New Mexico’s women’s golf team tied for sixth with Oregon at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational.
The invitational saw 18 schools from across the country come together to compete at the UNM Championship Golf Course. The field included more than 100 players from nine top-25 programs, including the defending champion Stanford.
The Lobos battled back after a rough day on Monday, in which only one player shot under par, with a team score of 8 over par. As the final round unfolded, the team continued to climb up the leaderboard, moving up to sole possession of fourth place. At that point the team was five-under par for the day and had battled back to 1-under for the tournament.
Unfortunately, rain and wind swept the course toward the end of the day, resulting in a UNM tie with Oregon at sixth, shooting 5-over par.
Jill Trujillo, head coach of the UNM women’s golf team, said she was pleased to see the women rebound the way they did.
“We really battled this afternoon. I’m so proud of this team,” Trujillo said. “They’re fighters. It was really fun to watch.”
Trujillo said this could be the start of something good and believes this team may surprise some people. She said the whole team knew at the end of last season that they could do something great.
“It’s always good when you’re right up there with some of the (top programs),” Trujillo said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if these girls bring home a trophy. They’re that hungry, and they really want it bad.”
Manon Molle’ had a fantastic start to the tournament, posting a 5-under, tied for the top score after round one. Despite her impressive first round and battling back from 8-over in round two, Molle’ said she never felt like she found her swing during this tournament.
“I don’t know how I did 5-under the first round. Maybe I was just pumped up, but I started to get really tired, and started not to feel confident with my swing,” Molle’ said. “I had a good experience, and now I know what I have to work on for the next tournament.”
Molle’ was able to overcome two consecutive bogeys on the first two holes to finish one-under for the day. She ended up at 2-under for the tournament, tying her for 12th place overall.
Sol Lee was inserted into the starting lineup and made the most of her first collegiate appearance. Lee showed consistent play throughout the tournament, posting a score of 1-under for the tournament, good enough for 18th.
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“I ended up bogeying my last two holes, but I’m really happy,” Lee said. “I just had a couple of mistakes, but I did pretty good. My irons (worked) well Tuesday, but my putting was a little off.”
Ingrid Gutierrez said she thought the team was affected by fatigue on the second day.
“I think we were kind of tired,” Gutierrez said. “It was 36 holes and it was a long day. Today, we just played hole by hole.”
Gutierrez said she was unaware the team was playing so well and making a push up on the leaderboard in the final round of the invitational.
“I really didn’t know how the team was playing because I was just playing,” Gutierrez said. “Then I saw we were doing really good, and the team was excited. We had a difficult last few holes, but overall we did a really good job.”
Northwestern University’s Sarah Cho overcame shooting over par in the second round to finish the tournament with the best individual score at 8-under, beating out Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse by one stroke.
Despite Cho’s efforts atop the leaderboard, Stanford’s team finished at the peak of the standings, shooting -20 as a group. Northwestern managed to shoot 10-under for a second-place finish.
The next stop for the Lobos will be Greenville, South Carolina to participate in the Lady Paladin Invitational/Furman.
The tournament begins Sunday.
Robert Maler is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
