Lobos, McDonald finish strong, place fifth
Denver wins team title; Grand Canyon’s Strole the top individual
Thanks to a strong final round of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, New Mexico gained three spots on the leaderboard, but that still left the Lobos in fifth place Monday behind winner Denver.
UNM freshman Myah McDonald turned in a consistent effort to finish tied for fifth, with a 1-under for the tournament, making her best performance as a Lobo.
McDonald’s 215 was seven strokes behind leader
Carly Strole of Grand Canyon.
“It starts off at the tee. All of my drives were going right where I wanted them to,” McDonald said. “I was giving myself the best chance to make a good approach shot, and my putting was very good. I was able to make a lot of par saves, which was really crucial going into the end on the last few holes.”
With the Mountain West tournament coming up in a week, Lobos coach Jill Trujillo said she’s happy
to see McDonald’s progress.
“She’s real consistent,” Trujillo said. “She doesn’t miss many fairways, she doesn’t miss many greens. She gets up-and-downs. She’s a great putter. So she’s just consistent all around, and she keeps getting better and better after every tournament.”
That consistency was something the rest of the squad was unable to maintain.
“We didn’t play bad,” Trujillo said. “But we didn’t play great. We made a lot of birdies, so we did a lot of really good things. We just gave it away. We had way too many bogeys. We had too many double bogeys. When you have a good field, you just can’t do that. We gave it away with all the bogeys we made.”
The team battle was a good one as New Mexico finished with a 9-over 873, nine strokes behind the winning Pioneers, but just two strokes out of third. Pepperdine was three strokes off the pace, with Washington third and Grand Canyon fourth. New Mexico State finished sixth at 14 over led by Amelia McKee, who finished tied for 13th at 2-over 218.
“We had some good rounds from all of the other players, so there’s a lot of bright spots, for sure,” Trujillo said.
It was the first win of the spring for Denver, which entered the final round at tied with the Waves and one ahead of the Huskies. The Pioneers finished at even-par 864.
“Our game plan was to stick to the process and to hit every shot with intention and conviction,” said Denver coach Lindsay Kuhle. “And to trust the work that we put in. And lastly and most importantly, to have fun. To really embrace the opportunity to win a college tournament, because it doesn’t come that often.”
The win was a first Strole, as well, who finished with an 8-under 69-70-69, three strokes ahead of Denver’s Camille Enright after entering the day leading her by one. She saved her herself on her ninth hole, par-4, 475 yards. Strole belted her drive down the middle about 270 yards.
Then, “I hit a hybrid to four feet then made the eagle so that was pretty nice,” Strole said. “I couldn’t see the ball when I hit it. It just looked like it was going at the pin, and when I got up there, it was a short, little eagle.”
That little eagle pushed her under par.
“It was a really cool moment,” Strole said. “I was plus one until I got to that hole. I had a lot of chances early on and nothing was falling and that was kind of the turning point. “I thought, ‘Ok, we are still in this.’ Nine holes left to play, I needed to keep my head strong and grinding as much as I can going in.”
Now New Mexico has a week to get ready for Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
“I think we really have a shot to win and go to regionals, so I’m excited about that,” McDonald said. “And going into conference, I don’t want to take it different. I just want to regard it like any other tournament and just go out there and do what I’ve been doing.”