March 2, 2011
The University of New Mexico women’s golf team moved up another spot in the final round of the Bruin Wave Invitational in Santa Clarita, Calif. The Lobos finished seventh in the 15-team field after shooting a 301 today on the Valley Course (par 72, 6,282 yards) at the Robinson Ranch Golf Club. UNM finished with a 54-hole total of 913 (311-301-301).
The Lobos started the final round in eighth, two strokes behind BYU, but UNM was four shots better than the Cougars today. New Mexico was in 12th after the first round.
UNM came into the tournament ranked No. 49 in the latest GolfStat national poll. The six teams that finished ahead of the Lobos – UCLA, Arizona, Pepperdine, Stanford, San Diego State and Texas – are all ranked higher. New Mexico did manage to defeat two higher-ranked teams – No. 41 UNLV and No. 47 Oklahoma State.
“While I was not happy with our finish in the first round, I was encouraged by our play the last two days,” said head coach Jill Trujillo. “We got a little better each day and that’s what you hope for. It’s something to build on moving forward.”
No. 3 UCLA led wire-to-wire, beating second-place Arizona by 20 shots. The Bruins finished at 860.
Playing in her first tournament of the spring, sophomore Beth Buchner led the Lobos with a 227 (77-75-75, +11), tying for 26th.
Freshman Manon de Roey tied for 33rd at 230 (76-75-79, +14). She was stung by some difficulties in the middle of the round, losing seven shots between holes 16 and 2. UNM teed off from No. 10 today.
Junior Rebecca Hellbom, UNM’s No. 1 player, played like it today. She had all pars except for a bogey on the par-4 15th. After beginning the day in a tie for 55th, Hellbom’s 73 moved her all the way into a tie for 39th at 231 (83-75-73, +15). The 16-spot improvement was the largest of any golfer in the 84-player field.
Junior Sarah Salvo also tied for 39th at 231 (80-76-75, +15) while freshman Sammi Stevens tied for 48th at 233 (78-77-78, +17).
Freshman Sofia Hoglund, playing as an individual, shot an 83.
UCLA’s Lee Lopez birdied the last two holes for a final-round 69 to win the individual title at 4-under 212. Lopez beat teammate Glory Yang by a shot and Stephanie Kono – also from UCLA – by two strokes.
The Lobos will be right back at it Saturday, taking on Arizona and Arizona State in a match in Phoenix.