Feb. 25, 2011
The University of New Mexico women’s golf team is back in action early next week when it travels to the Bruin Wave Invitational in Santa Clarita, Calif. Pepperdine and UCLA are the co-hosts.
The 54-hole tournament will be played on the Valley Course of the Robinson Ranch Golf Club (par 72, 6,282 yards). The teams will play 18 holes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.
It’s a busy week for UNM as it will return home Wednesday evening then travel to Phoenix Friday afternoon for a match play event against Arizona and Arizona State on Saturday.
THE COMPETITORS – The 15-team field includes hosts Pepperdine (27) and UCLA (3), and Arizona (7), BYU (68), Cal State Northridge (116), Long Beach State (71), New Mexico (49), New Mexico State (53), Oklahoma State (47), Oregon State (88), San Diego State (46), Stanford (26), Texas (25), UNLV (41) and Washington State (115). The number in parenthesis indicates national ranking according to the most recent Golfstat poll.
LOBO LINEUP – Head coach Manon de Roey and Sammi Stevens. Freshman Sofia Hoglund will play as an individual.
LAST YEAR’S BRUIN WAVE INVITATIONAL – Led by Jodi Ewart’s 4-under 68 and second place individual finish, the 21st-ranked University of New Mexico ended in sixth place. Ewart had five birdies and a bogey in tying a career-low round. She finished at 5-under 211, three shots behind individual winner Danielle Kang from Pepperdine.
The Lobos shot an even-par 288 on the final day, the third-lowest round among the 18-team field playing at the Robinson Ranch Golf Club. UNM finished at 19-over 883 (295-300-288). The round could have been even better as the Lobos played the front nine in 7-under, but 7-over on the back. Southern Cal rallied past top-ranked UCLA for the team title at 866.
Ewart shot 68 as a freshman at the UNLV Spring Invitational. Her score ties for the 6th-best round in school history while 4-under-par ties for 8th-best at UNM.
UNM senior Britney Choy finished in a tie for 15th at 219 (72-75-72). Sophomore Sarah Salvo tied for 40th at 227 (75-78-74). Sophomore Rebecca Hellbom tied for 45th at 229 (79-75-74) while freshman Beth Buchner tied for 61st at 235 (79-75-81).
ARIZONA WILDCAT INVITATIONAL RECAP – The University of New Mexico women’s golf team finished in seventh place at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational held Feb. 7-8. The Lobos shot a final round 319 for a 54-hole total of 915 (51-over) at The Golf Course of Vistoso (par 72, 6,321 yards) in Tucson.
UNM began the final round in fifth place, but had trouble scoring on the greens according to head coach Jill Trujillo. “I saw some good things during the tournament, however, putting was not one of them today. We made some good shots into the green on a very windy day, but we couldn’t get the putts to drop.” The final round was played in sustained winds of 20 m.p.h., gusting to 30.
The Lobos did finish higher than three ranked teams in a field of 16: No. 23 Washington, No. 37 Oklahoma State and No. 48 San Diego State.
Host and 7th-ranked Arizona won its own tournament by 11 shots over No. 9 Cal. The Wildcats finished at 875 (11-over).
Freshman Sammi Stevens was UNM’s top finisher, tying for 17th at 10-over 226 (71-75-80). Her opening-round 71 is a career low as a Lobo. Junior Rebecca Hellbom looked poised for a possible top-10 finish halfway through the final round. She was 1-under after nine holes, but dropped eight strokes over a seven-hole span to finish in a tie for 20th at 11-over 227 (75-73-79).
Freshman Manon de Roey tied for 22nd at 12-over 228 (71-76-81). The 71 in the opening round tied a career low.
“Sammi got a top-20 finish and Manon is getting her game turned around,” said Trujillo, “so I like the way they are playing.”
Junior Sarah Salvo finished at 237 (76-79-82) to tie for 52nd while freshman Sofia Hoglund was 77th at 252 (89-84-79).
Arizona’s Isabelle Boineau grabbed the individual title with a 4-under 212.
HEAD COACH Jill Trujillo – A 1990 UNM graduate and women’s golf letterwinner from 1987-90, Jill Trujillo is in her fourth season in charge of the women’s golf program. Trujillo has led New Mexico to five team titles, including three consecutive Mountain West Conference championships from 2008-10. She was named the 2007-08 MWC Coach of the Year. Trujillo was head coach when UNM advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2007 at Daytona Beach. The Lobos finished 22nd at the Championships in 2007, 19th in 2009 and tied for 16th in 2010.