Feb. 10, 2006
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NEW-LOOK LOBOS OPEN 2006 SPRING SEASON – The 23rd-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team begins the 2006 spring season Monday, playing at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif. The three-day tournament is being hosted by Ohio State. Eighteen holes will be played Monday through Wednesday at the par-71, 5,912-yard Palos Verdes Country Club. Live stats are available at www.golfstat.com.
The Lobos will only be taking four participants for a variety of reasons. Senior Christine Fernandez and junior Ashley Rollins left the team after the fall semester, returning to their respective homes in Austin, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nev. Both were first team all-Mountain West last year while Rollins was also the MWC Freshman of the Year in 2004.
Freshman sensation Mikaela Backstedt is out of action while recovering from a broken left thumb suffered before Christmas. Backstedt, ranked 22nd nationally with a rating of 71.6 and a scoring average of 72.42, was hurt after dropping a weight on her thumb while participating in a pilates class. She had three pins inserted and is just starting to putt and chip. Backstedt could return for the Wildcat Invitational later this month, but the UNLV Spring Invitational March 13-15 is more likely.
Lobo head coach Jackie Booth will take sophomores Alexandra Phelps and Giselle Claux and freshmen Py Bengtsson and Morgan Grantham to California. All four scores will count each day.
THE FIELD – The competitive 15-team field includes 13 schools ranked in the top-25 of the most recent Golfweek poll, highlighted by No. 2 UCLA. Also participating are No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 7 Southern Cal, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Stanford, No. 18 Arizona, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 California, No. 25 Florida, plus Oklahoma State and Tulane.
LOBOS AT THE REGIONAL CHALLENGE – The Lobos are making their third straight appearance at this tournament and seventh overall since it started in 1996. UNM finished 10th out of 15 schools last year, totaling a 924 for the three days. New Mexico’s best finish came in 2004 when it placed second among 15 teams.
FALL REVIEW – New Mexico claimed two second-place finishes, a third and a sixth in four fall tournaments.
The Lobos opened the season at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic played at the Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins, Colo. UNM finished second to Baylor at 874 after firing a 4-over 292 on the final day. Ashley Rollins shot a final round 69 (3-under) to finish in fourth place at 2-under 214. Freshman Mikaela Backstedt tied for 10th at 2-over 218 followed by fellow Swedish freshman Py Bengtsson in 14th place at 4-over 220.
UNM hosted the 27th Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational at the University of New Mexico Championship Course in late September. Third-ranked Pepperdine shot a final round 5-under (287) to finish at 3-under 873, edging unranked Texas A&M by two shots. The Lobos finished third at 6-over 882 followed by No. 14 UNLV (883) and 24th-ranked Ohio State (886). The Lobos carded a 2-over 294 in the final round and were within one shot of the lead before losing a few strokes down the stretch. Backstedt finished fourth at 4-under 215.
At the Price’s Give ‘Em Five Intercollegiate played at the New Mexico State University Golf Course in Las Cruces, Backstedt birdied the first playoff hole to win the individual title.
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.
As a team, 15th-ranked UNM tied host New Mexico State for second place at 893, two shots behind champion Missouri.
The final tournament was at The Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. The two-time defending champion Lobos moved up one spot to finish in sixth place against a tough field.
Playing with three true freshman in the lineup, the Lobos had their best round of the tournament on the final day – a 13-over 301 – to end at 65-over 929. Fifth-ranked Purdue scorched the course with a 2-under 286 on the final day to outdistance the field, beating 13th-ranked Wake Forest by 17 stokes.
Backstedt led UNM again. She shot a 3-over 75, providing a 54-hole total of 7-over 223, good for a tie for eighth. True freshman Morgan Grantham, playing in her first collegiate tournament, recorded the Lobos’ low round of the final day. Grantham shot a 2-over 74 in the final round, finishing at 19-over 235 and in a tie for 29th place.
NATIONAL RANKINGS – Arguably one of the top newcomers in women’s collegiate golf, freshman Mikaela Backstedt turned in a debut that could be nothing short of stunning.
The Hollviken, Sweden, native is currently ranked 22nd in the nation by Golfweek magazine with a rating of 71.69. She is the top golfer in the Mountain West Conference with a scoring average of 72.42 and was named MWC Golfer of the Month for September and October.
Backstedt has been a model of consistency, shooting between 69 and 75 in her first 112 collegiate rounds. The Lobo freshman scoring record is 74.62 by Backstedt’s teammate, Ashley Rollins, in 2003-04.