Oct. 26, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The 15th-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team heads to a tournament that has been very kind to them the past two years, The Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. Winners of the past two team titles, the Lobos open the 54-hole tournament Friday at the Nicklaus Course/Country Club of Landfall (par 72, 6,070 yards). Eighteen holes will also be played on Saturday and Sunday. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is the host. Live stats will be available at www.golfstat.com.
THE FIELD: The competitive 12-team field features five nationally-ranked teams in No. 5 Purdue, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 15 New Mexico, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 24 Tulane. Also playing are Furman, Michigan, North Carolina State, UNC Wilmington, South Florida, Tulsa and Virginia.
LOBO LINEUP: UNM will take senior Christine Fernandez, sophomores Giselle Claux and three freshmen, Mikaela Backstedt, Py Bengtsson and Morgan Grantham. Grantham is making her collegiate debut.
UNM AT THE LANDFALL: New Mexico is looking for its third straight team title at the Landfall.
Last year, the 14th-ranked Lobos won the 12-team field, which included seven ranked teams, with a score of 297-285-296–878 (+14), three strokes better than host UNC-Wilmington.
Kailin Downs finished in second place with a 5-under 211 (73-67-71), only two strokes behind Vanderbilt’s Chris Brady. Christine Fernandez tied for 28th with a 10-over 226 (78-72-76), while Giselle Claux carded a 15-over 231 (80-74-77) to tie for 40th.
In 2003, the fifth-ranked Lobos claimed their second tournament title of the fall season, winning by four shots. UNM shot a 291-304-296-891 (+27), followed by No. 18 Tulane (304-295-301-895) and 17th-ranked Tulsa (304-295-301-900).
Downs led UNM, tying for second place with a 1-over 217 (69-75-73), one shot behind Arkansas’ Amanda McCurdy. Fernandez placed in a tie for 15th with a 73-77-76-226 (+10).
NMSU INTERCOLLEGIATE RECAP: Lobo freshman Mikaela Backstedt birdied the first playoff hole to win the individual title at Price’s Give ‘Em Five Intercollegiate played at the New Mexico State University Golf Course in Las Cruces. As a team, 15th-ranked UNM tied host New Mexico State for second place at 893, two shots behind champion Missouri.
Backstedt became the first freshman in the history of New Mexico women’s golf to win a tournament and the first Lobo, regardless of classification, to claim a title since Katrina Leckovic captured the 2003 UNLV Invitational.
Playing in just her third collegiate tournament, Backstedt and the University of San Francisco’s Jessica Potter, each finished 54 holes at 3-under 216. Backstedt, who shot a 1-over 73 in the final round, set up the winning birdie by knocking her approach shot within eight feet on the par-4 10th hole. Potter made par.
After shooting 296 and 295 in the first two rounds on Monday, the Lobos jumped to a 14-over 302 in the final round. They had a hard time down the stretch, playing the final three holes in 5-over par.
Junior Ashley Rollins, who began the day in fourth place, soared to an 84 and finished tied for 23rd with teammate Py Bengtsson at 11-over 227. Sophomore Giselle Claux tied for 51st at 233 after shooting a 2-over 75. Sophomore Alexandra Phelps tied for 59th at 235 following a 6-over 78 today.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Backstedt is currently ranked 27th in the nation – up from 41st – in scoring average at 71.60 per round. She has been a model of consistency, shooting between 69 and 74 in her first nine collegiate rounds. The Lobo freshman scoring record is 74.62 by Backstedt’s teammate, Ashley Rollins, in 2003-04.
PLAYER NOTES: Junior Ashley Rollins shot a UNM Championship Course record 8-under-par 65 during a qualifying round for the season-opening tournament at Colorado State. Rollins, who shot a 69 in the final round at Colorado State, is a two-time all-conference performer and was the 2004 Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
Lobo freshman Py Bengtsson, playing as an individual in last month’s McGuire Invitational, recorded her first career hole-in-one. It came in the first round when she shot a 3-under 70. Bengtsson used a 9-iron to ace the uphill 123-yard 12th hole. At Colorado State, Bengtsson fired a 69 in her second collegiate round, tying Ashley Rollins for low score of the season.
Sophomore Giselle Claux had her best career finishes – in relation to par – the first two tournaments of the season. Claux finished 11-over at Colorado State, then 10-over at the McGuire.
Sophomore Alexandra Phelps shot a career-low 71 (2-under) in the second round of the McGuire. Phelps finished at 3-over 222, her low score for 54 holes.
BACKSTEDT NAMED MWC GOLFER OF THE MONTH: New Mexico freshman Mikaela Backstedt was named the Mountain West Conference Women’s Golfer of the Month for September. The Hollviken, Sweden, native began her collegiate career with back-to-back top-10 finishes to open the 2005-06 season.
Backstedt began the season with a 10th-place showing at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic. She carded a 2-over 218 (71-73-74) and helped the Lobos to a second-place finish in the 18-team field.
In her second collegiate tournament, Backstedt finished fourth after shooting a 4-under 215 (70-72-73). The field for the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational featured seven nationally ranked teams and 18 overall as New Mexico finished third behind Pepperdine and Texas A&M.
ADDING TO THE CASE?: The Lobos are gunning for their 13th team title since 2001.
OUTSTANDING IN THE CLASSROOM: The New Mexico women’s golf team posted the third best GPA in the nation in 2004-05 with an outstanding 3.628 cumulative mark. UNM placed five student-athletes (Giselle Claux, Kailin Downs, Alexandra Phelps, Christina Spence and Ashley Rollins) on the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Scholar Team released earlier in the summer. South Carolina won the inaugural NGCA award with a 3.752 GPA. The brand new award recognizes the women’s collegiate golf program with the highest collective average team GPA.
NCAAs AT UNM IN 2008: The NCAA announced last fall that the 2008 Division I Women’s Golf Championships will be played at The Championship Course. The event, scheduled for May 20-23, 2008, marks the fifth time that the NCAA Championships will be held in Albuquerque.
The UNM Championship Course, which was recently named one of the top 10 collegiate courses in the nation by Golfweek magazine, is no stranger to major tournaments. It was the site of the 1976, 1992 and 1998 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships as well as the 1991, 1995 and 2002 NCAA West Regionals. In 1987, the course hosted the NCAA Women’s Championships, and was also the site of the 1994 NCAA Women’s West Regional. The home course advantage helped the Lobos in 1987, as Caroline Keggi claimed UNM’s only individual national title in golf.
“This is really exciting for our program,” said New Mexico women’s golf coach Jackie Booth. “This will definitely help in recruiting our future classes, knowing that they will be able to play the site of the NCAA Championships every day.”
Booth has experience coaching and hosting the NCAA Championships. When she was the head coach at New Mexico State, the Aggies hosted the 1988 NCAA Championships in Las Cruces.
“It was a great experience at New Mexico State – they really rolled out the red carpet for the event, and I’m expecting the university and the city will do everything they can in making this a first-class event for all the participants from across the country,” Booth said. “It will be a lot of fun to have the biggest tournament of the season right in our back yard.
“It’s an honor for our course to be considered an NCAA site,” said Booth. “I always felt like it was one of the top collegiate courses in the country. When I’m recruiting, I know that if they can play well on our course, they can play well anywhere. The size of the greens and the length of the course presents an immense challenge for any player.”