New Mexico Lobos Women’s Golf – At the Golfweek Conference Challenge
Where: Red Sky Ranch & Golf Club, Wolcott, Colo. (Par 72, 6,249 yards)
Tuesday’s 36-hole Team Leaders: 1- Pepperdine, 582. 1 (tie) – Tennessee, 582. 3- Campbell, 592. 4- Denver, 594. 4 (tie)- Louisville, 594. 6- TCU 613. 14- New Mexico, 632.
The Golfweek Challenge Field: New Mexico – Mountain West;Campbell – Big South; Colorado – Pac-12; Denver – Summit League; Georgetown – Big East; Illinois State – Missouri Valley; Jacksonville State – Ohio Valley; Lamar – Southland; Long Beach State – Big West; Louisville – ACC; Nebraska – Big Ten; Pepperdine – West Coast; Stetson – Atlantic Sun; TCU – Big 12; Tennessee – SEC; Texas State – Sun Belt; Toledo – Mid-American; Texas-San Antonio – Conference USA.
The Lobos: Ingrid Gutierrez, Katerina Jaeger, Alexandra Moisand, Eva Saulnier Kalyn Thayer
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Lobo freshman Alexandra Moisand shot another solid round Tuesday at theGolfweek Conference Challenge as New Mexico made a small jump from 15th to 14th place in the 17-team field.
Moisand shot a 76 on Monday and carded a 77 over the second 18 holes to total 153 over 36 holes and jump into a tie for the 30th spot with a team card of 632. The Lobos shot a 317 on Tuesday which was two shots higher than the 315 they posted on Monday. However, Georgetown skied to a 337 on Tuesday to allow the Lobos to jump past the Hoyas.
There are two teams – Toledo and Illinois State – in a tie for 12th spot only four shots ahead of UNM at 628.
The Lobos actually played well on Tuesday considering the Red Sky Ranch & Golf Club took bites into most of the scorecards. The top nine teams on the leaderboard all shot worse on Tuesday than they did on Monday. Pepperdine, the first round leader, shot a 298 on Tuesday and a 284 on Monday.
In fact, there was only one team, UTSA, which shot a better team score over the second 18 holes. Georgetown was 24 shots higher on Tuesday. The tough play at Red Sky was reflected in the cards of the first-day leaders – Pepperdine’s Alina Ching and Tatiana Wijaya shot 68s on Monday, but skied to 78s on Tuesday.
Pepperdine’s Marissa Chow and Campbell’s Louise Latorre share the second-round lead with 1-under cards of 143. Tennessee’s Hannah Pietila and teammate A.J. Newell are tied at 144. Chow was the only golfer in Tuesday’s Top 16 who was able to chop any strokes off their first-round score. Chow went from 73 on Monday to a 70 on Tuesday.
“It was a tough day,” said Lobo Coach Jill Trujillo.
Lobo sophomore Katerina Jaeger was the only Lobo on UNM’s five-person roster to shoot better on Tuesday, but UNM did not have any severe drops like players on other rosters.
Pepperdine had a shot lead over Tennessee after Monday’s first round, but the two teams are tied at 6-over (582) heading into Wednesday’s final round. Campbell is in third place, ten shots off the pace.
The conference challenge brings in teams from 17 conferences. New Mexico is carrying the colors of the Mountain West. Pepperdine has won three of the five Golfweek Challenges titles. The Waves won in 2013 by 36 shots.
14 — New Mexico — +56 315 317 632
T30 — Alexandra Moisand — +9 76 77 153
T50 — Eva Saulnier — +14 78 80 158
T60 — Katerina Jaeger — +16 81 79 160
T64 — Ingrid Gutierrez — +17 80 81 161
T72 — Kalyn Thayer — +19 81 82 163