May 5, 2011
The University of New Mexico women’s golf team is tied for 14th place after the first round of the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash.
Playing at the rain-soaked Washington National Golf Club (par 72, 6,321 yards) on a cool, cloudy afternoon, the Lobos, San Diego State and Tulsa all shot a 22-over 310. UNM entered the 24-team field as the No. 18 seed.
The top eight finishers in the 54-hole event advance to the NCAA Championships May 18-21 at College Station, Texas.
UNM begins the second round seven shots out of eighth place. Arizona, BYU and South Carolina are in a three-way tie for seventh at 303.
Top-ranked Southern California has the first-round lead after shooting at even-par 288 No. 6 Virginia is two strokes back at 290, followed by 13th-ranked Tennessee at 292.
The Lobos begin second-round play Friday at 9 a.m. MT.
Teeing off of No. 10, the Lobos got off to a shaky start similar to the first round of last month’s Mountain West Conference Championships. They struggled to 16-over at the turn, but got four birdies between holes 1 through 3 to sit at 12-over and in a tie for eighth with six holes to play.
UNM did not finish strong, though, losing nine strokes over the final four holes.
The par-4 7th is the easiest hole on the course, playing at just 289 yards, but three Lobos found the water off the tee and made bogey or worse.
“We will have to come from behind again. It wasn’t an awful day, but it could have been a lot better,” said head coach Jill Trujillo. “We had a couple of big numbers that inflated our score. We can’t have that the next two days.”
Freshman Sammi Stevens posted the Lobos’ top round at 75 (39-36). She had three bogeys on the front side, but played par golf on the back.
Junior Sarah Salvo came in with a 77 (39-38), bogeying two of the final three holes.
Junior Rebecca Hellbom had one unsightly blemish on her card, suffering a 9 on the par-5 14th that led to a 79 (42-37). She was 6 over after six holes following a bogey at No. 15, but lost just one stroke over the final 12 holes.
Freshman Manon de Roey finished with a 79 (41-38), but it looked like it could have been much worse in the early going. Her first score was a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 10th and de Roey was 5 over after four holes. She regrouped and dropped just two strokes over the final 14 holes.
Sophomore Beth Buchner was sitting at 3 over after a par at 14, but lost five shots over the remaining four holes to finish with an 80 (40-40). A triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 7th hole proved costly.
Tennessee’s Erica Popson has the individual lead at 4-under 68.