New Mexico Lobos Women’s Golf — at Arizona Wildcat Invitational
Where: Sewailo Golf Club (Par 72, 6,386 yards) – Tucson, Arizona
The Field: New Mexico, Arizona, Campbell, Houston, Idaho, Kansas, Long Beach State, Michigan, New Mexico State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UNLV, USC, Washington State, Wisconsin.
Lobo Roster: Manon Molle’, Eva Saulnier, Katerina Jaeger, Ingrid Gutierrez, Alexandra Moisand
Tucson, Arizona – The second round of the Arizona Wildcat Invitational was suspended due to darkness, but the New Mexico Lobos managed to do a bit of climbing in the second 18 holes of play.
After 18 holes, the Lobos were in last place (15 out of 15) at 27-over par and three shots behind Kansas. When play was stopped Monday evening, the Lobos had slipped past Kansas — 34-over to 35-over – but Kansas had finished 18 holes and the Lobos were still out on the course.
The second round will resume at 7 a.m. (PT) with 12 teams still looking to finish rounds. The teams will then regroup with a shotgun start around 9 a.m. (PT) for the final 18 holes of the 54-hole event.
It’s difficult to tell exactly where the Lobos will fall in the second-round standings, but it’s likely that Southern California will retain the top spot.
The No. 2 ranked Trojans were 26-under par with their five-woman crew still on the course, but with only a few holes left to play. Arizona was in the No. 2 spot at 17-under. USC was 18-under for the second round when the Trojans were called off the course. Arizona was 7-under over the second 18 holes playing in the same group as USC.
The talent of USC can be seen on the individual leader board as the Trojans have three golfers in the top three spots (with holes to play). USC’s Karen Chung was 9-under, teammate Kyung Kim was 8-under and Trojan Annie Park was 6-under. UNLV’s Dana Finkelstein was in sixth place as 4-under (on hole No. 16).
It was a good second round for the powerful Trojans as they trailed Arizona by three shots – 277 to 280 – after 18 holes. UNLV of the Mountain West was in the No. 3 spot at 3-over after 18 holes. New Mexico State was nine-over after 18 holes which handed the Aggies an 18-shot lead over UNM.
Manon Molle’ had an excellent first 18 holes for the Lobos and brought in a scorecard of 1-under (71). Alexandra Moisand had a solid 74, but UNM struggled after that as Eva Saulnier went 84, Ingrid Gutierrez shot 86 and Katerina Jaeger shot 86.
Moisand stayed solid on the second 18 holes and was 3-under when she was called off the 14th hole. She was unofficially in a tie for 12th place. Molle’ was 1-over on No. 12 when darkness halted play. The other three Lobos had improved their cards from the first 18 holes, so UNM has a chance to climb the leader board if the team can keep its cards in the 70s.
The UNLV Rebels are the top ranked team in the Mountain West and the unofficial favorites to grab the 2015 Mountain West title. The Rebels have looked good in Tucson so far and are tied for third place – but with holes to play in the second round. UNLV team carried a No. 17 Golfweek ranking into the event
The tournament is being hosted by the University of Arizona and being played at the Sewailo Golf Club, a par 72, 6,386 yard course. Arizona last hosted the Wildcat Invitational in 2012, when both the Wildcats and Manon Gidali won the tournament. Gidali, now a senior, won the event in 2012 as a freshman.
Live results are available at BirdieFire.com.