by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
It didn't take long for freshman Jodi Ewart to make a splash on the UNM women's golf team.
Ewart was named Mountain West Conference Freshman Player of the Year and Co-player of the Year after winning the MWC Women's Golf Championship on April 21.
She became the second Lobo freshman to win a tournament and the third player to take the title in school history. She was the first since Katrina Leckovic did it in 2003.
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In the conference championship in St. George, Utah, she finished with a 7-over 220 and shot a 1-over 72 in the final round to win the tournament by
one stroke.
UNM coach Jill Trujillo said she is ecstatic about
Ewart's year.
"Freshmen come in real wide-eyed and nervous," she said. "They just need to come in and play golf and do what they know. I don't know if Jodi had her expectations real high, but she just came in and played golf. She has been very consistent and is having an incredible year."
Ewart hasn't finished lower than 15th place in nine tournaments, including two top-10 and two top-five finishes.
She is on pace to beat the school's average round score of 73.40, set by teammate Mikaela Backstedt last year. She has a 72.96 average, second in the MWC, after 27 rounds with at least the regional tournament
remaining.
Ewart is thrilled with her performance so far.
"My season has been amazing," she said. "It has been a lot more than I expected it to be. Being a freshman, I thought I would be really nervous, but I have just played and excelled. My consistency has been my strength. I have just been trying to hit the fairways and greens."
Getting to the greens was never a problem, but what she did when she got there was where
trouble began.
Ewart's short game was the weakest part of her technique since coming to UNM, but since she became a Lobo, it has been the area she has improved in the most, she said.
"One of the biggest reasons why I came here was because of the facilities - especially the short-game facilities," she said. "My pitching and chipping were not great coming into the season, so the facilities have benefited my short game
tremendously."
A native of Middleham, England, Ewart is far away from her family, but she has enjoyed her time in New Mexico.
"The first month was a little weird, just because everything was so different, especially the weather and people," she said. "It was kind of hard at first being away from home and my family. But I have gotten used to everything now, and I love it out here."
Trujillo said Ewart's success was no surprise.
"Any newcomer, we have high expectations, but nothing too out of reach," Trujillo said. "After the first few tournaments Jodi played, I knew it was only a matter of time before she won
an event."
