Sun Country Golf

The University of New Mexico Lobo Women’s Golf Team finished in 19th place at the 2009 NCAA Championships, short of their goal of getting in the top 15 but ahead of their No. 22 national ranking going into the tournament.

Arizona state, Southern California and UCLA were battling for the national title with just three shots separating the three teams going into the final four holes late Friday at Caves Valley Gilf Club in Owings Mills, Md.

Lobo Junior Britney Choy shot a final round 78 (73-79-72-78) to put her in a tie for 32nd, with top players still on the course late Friday.

Junior Jodi Ewart finished with a four-day total of 304 (78-73-78-75), or 16 over, putting her in a tie for 40th with top players still on the course.

Other lobo stats: Senior Mikaela Backstedt, tied for 113th at 37 over (81-82-81-81); freshman Rebecca Hellbom, tied for 76th at 24 over (79-80-77-76); and Senior Morgan Grantham, 119th at 43 over (82-80-83-86).

Full individual stats are at: Click Here
Full team stats are at: Click Here

Tags: Golf in New Mexico by admin
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Words now comes that construction on a huge above-ground water-storage tank between Nos. 4 and 5 at Puerto Del Sol Golf Course is being pushed back to the fall, but construction could take as long as a year.

Puerto’s operator Tony Hidalgo sought a meeting in the next couple weeks with city officials to learn exactly how the course, its players and his business would be affected.

It’s astounding that a decision made by city officials 12 years ago sat there like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority, an indpendent entity, now handles the metro area’s water supply. No one there apparently communicated with or knew to communicate to Hidalgo that his business would be disrupted.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… I: wait… L: wait… C: wait…

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Lobo Junior Britney Choy says the No. 22-ranked Lobo Women’s Golf Team has the talent to finish as high as No. 15 at the NCAA National Championships.

That gave the team a day to make up eight shots to pull alongside No. 14 Georgia going into Day 4 of the championship.

The team climbed as high as No. 16 on the first day of competition in Owings Mills, Md., then settled in at No. 20 after.

“This course demands that you be on top of your short game, and that’s where we have struggled,” said UNM head coach Jill Trujillo.

Choy, the Lobos’ top performer, clearly got the monkey off her back from last year’s meltdown during the regionals. She shot even par Thursday, which tied for her low round of the season. She had two birdies and two bogeys for a total of 8-over 224 (73-79-72), and was tied for 20th place individually after 54 holes.

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Albuquerque City Councilor Debbie O’Malley says Ladera Golf Course’s improvements are part of the compromise general-obligation bond package hammered out between the council and the mayor, so the $1.5 million project will go to city voters in October after all.

The North Valley councilor also said the idea of saving water by fixing aging irrigation systems at all city courses over time has merit. It’s possible that every two years, anothercity-owned golf course could see its leaky system replaced — saving hundreds of millions of gallons of wasted water — and improving playing conditions at the same time.

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Mayor Martin Chavez’s budget-cutting keeps Ladera’s proposed new irrigation system in limbo as the mayor and  City Council begin a new round of horse trading.

Ladera’s $1.5 million in new funding, set for inclusion on the October General Obligation bond ballot, is now at risk as both annual operating funds and capital funds are thrown on the negotiating table as Chavez and the council struggle for control of city spending.

The mayor wants a larger share of city property taxes to go toward stemming red ink in the nearly half-billion-dollar city operating budget — which would leave less for public works projects, like roads and parks.

If that happens, the $160 million GO bond package the council proposed be sent to voters in October would shrink to $120 million, leaving little likelihood Ladera’s needs would be included, regardless of how much water a new irrigation system would save.

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