April 20, 2012
The 45th-ranked San Diego State women's golf team is in second place through 18 holes Friday at the 2012 Mountain West Championships at the par-72, 6,208-yard Wigwam Golf Course. The Aztecs shot a 19-over 307 in day one action of the 54-hole tournament and are just three strokes in back of first-place and No. 35 TCU, which recorded a 16-over 304.
"Overall, today was a good day, but we know we have some areas that we have to improve on to continue to compete for the title," SDSU head coach Leslie Spalding said. "Both Christine (Wong) and Malin (Enarsson) have led the way the entire year and I have a good feeling that tomorrow, our other players will step it up as well."
The squad's two veteran leaders, junior Christine Wong (Richmond, B.C.) and senior Malin Enarsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), are both in the individual top five. Wong is in a three-way tie for the lead along with New Mexico's Manon De Roey and Colorado State's Christina Spinzig at even-par 72. Wong birdied two of her first three holes on the day before making the turn at even par. She bogeyed the 11th hole, but got that stroke back with a birdie on the 13th before finishing out the round with five consecutive pars.
Enarsson, meanwhile, is one of three golfers tied for fifth place at 3-over 75. She carded a team-high 13 pars, including eight in a row, while also logging a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole. Enarsson was just one stroke in back of the leaders heading into the final two holes, but bogeyed both the 17th and 18th to end the round with a 75.
In her Mountain West tournament debut, Aztec freshman Amy Alston (Mission Viejo, Calif.) produced a solid 6-over 78 to tie for 15th place and also led the 35-player field in par-5 scoring at 2-under. Alston had seven bogeys through her first 12 holes, offsetting those with birdies at No. 1 and No. 10. She was able to finish with five pars on her final six holes to become the third SDSU player in the top 15.
Junior Gina Clark (Murrieta, Calif.), who was the team's top finisher at the same event a year ago, double bogeyed the first, seventh and 15th holes to find herself in a tie for 25th with an 82. Classmate Alessia Knight (Bologna, Italy) was 5-over through her first 12 holes, but then saw her score jump by eight strokes in a span of only six holes with a triple bogey and four consecutive bogeys to wind up in a tie for 32nd at 12-over 84.
Friday's second round gets underway for the Aztecs, who were fifth through 18 holes at the same event a year ago, at 8:40 a.m. PT from the first tee. They will be paired with TCU and New Mexico. Live results for the final two rounds are available at golfstat.com.
2012 Mountain West Championships
Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Wigwam Golf Course - Par 72, 6,208 yards
First-Round Results - 18 Holes
Team Scoring
1 TCU 304 (+16)2 San Diego State 307 (+19)3 New Mexico 310 (+22) Colorado State 310 (+22)5 UNLV 311 (+23)6 Boise State 312 (+24)7 Wyoming 317 (+29)
Individuals (Top 3 Individuals out of 35)1 Christine Wong, SDSU 72 (E) Christina Spinzig, Colorado St. 72 (E) Manon De Roey, New Mexico 72 (E)
Other San Diego State GolfersT5 Malin Enarsson 75 (+3)T15 Amy Alston 78 (+6)T25 Gina Clark 82 (+10)T32 Alessia Knight 84 (+12)