March 19, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas — The 22nd-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team won the 35th Annual Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Wednesday at the par 72, 6,344 yard University of Texas Golf Course. The Lobos finished the 36-hole event one shot better than fifth ranked Florida and captured their first team title since 2005. UNM shot a 47-over par 623 during the event. Three Lobos finished in the top-5 individually.
“We’ve never played in wind conditions like we did in Texas,” said UNM head coach Jill Trujillo. “Our spring semester is centered around being tough and our team proved that at this tournament. It was a battle against Mother Nature. Beating the fifth and sixth ranked teams in the country was an important move for us. It was nice to see us perform well at a regional site.”
Sophomore Britney Choy set a new career-low finish after placing third. Choy fired a 10-over par through two rounds and carded a 7-over par 79 in the finals.
Senior Alexandra Phelps and junior Mikaela Backstedt tied for fourth at 11-over par. Phelps shot rounds of 73-82 and had a 155 total tournament score. Backstedt carded a 7-over par 79 Wednesday.
Sophomore Jodi Ewart fired an 8-over par 80 in the finals and tied for 18th individually. Ewart finished the opening round with a 79 and concluded the event with an 80 for a total score of 159.
Junior Morgan Grantham was 24-over par after two days and tied for 61st.
The tournament was only 36-holes after the second round was cancelled due to heavy rains in the Austin area. The Lobos took home the trophy with Florida coming in second and tournament host Texas placing third. Defending national champion Stacey Lewis from Arkansas is the medalist. Lewis was 7-over par for the event.
The victory at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational marks the first career win for Trujillo. Trujillo is in her first year after taking over the program in June of 2007. The Lobos earned the team title at the Betsy Rawls Invitational for the first time in 18 trips to Austin.
New Mexico will participate in the PING/Arizona State Invitational on April 4-6 in Tempe, Ariz., at the Karsten Golf Course. For more information about UNM women’s golf visit www.GoLobos.com.