April 15, 2010
The 21st-ranked New Mexico Lobos are off to a good start in their attempt to win a third straight Mountain West Conference women’s golf championship. UNM shot a 6-over 294 at the Black Horse Golf Course (par 72, 6,009 yards) in Seaside, Calif., for a 12-shot lead over Colorado State after the first round of the MWC Championships.
New Mexico is seeking its seventh MWC championship in 11 seasons.
It certainly helps the cause when the top-three players on the leaderboard are Lobos. Such is the case after the first round that was played in cool, but sunny conditions on California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Coming off a pair of 67s in the final round of last week’s PING/ASU Invitational, senior Jodi Ewart and sophomore Rebecca Hellbom were stellar again. They shot 1-under 71 and share the individual lead. Lobo senior Britney Choy is two shots back at 73, tied with TCU’s Rachel Raastad for third place.
“We played really steady,” said head coach Jill Trujillo. “This is a course where you are going to make bogeys, but Jodi, Rebecca and Britney combined for 13 birdies and an eagle. We were seven shots better than last year’s first round.”
Ewart, who is seeking her third MWC individual title (2007, ’08), was 1-under after holing out from 60 yards for an eagle on the par-4 seventh. A double bogey at 10 pushed her back to 1-over, but she birdied 11, 14 and 16 to get back into red numbers. A bogey at 18 left Ewart at 71 for the day.
Hellbom was 2-over after a bogey at 11, but she came home strong with birdies at 13, 14 and 18.
Choy had a wild day with five birdies, six bogeys and seven pars.
Freshman Bethany Buchner shot a 79 while sophomore Sarah Salvo struggled to an 88, her highest round as a Lobo.
Second-round action begins Friday at 9 a.m. MDT.