DENVER -Grand Canyon's Jake Chanen and NM State's Pun Chanachai have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Golfers of the Month, respectively, for October.
Chanen, a freshman from Phoenix (Thunderbird HS), took over the number one position for the Lopes and did not disappoint, posting a pair of top-five finishes on the month. He opened October with a 6-under-par 210 to win the UMKC Bill Ross Intercollegiate in Overland Park, Kan. At the NM State Herb Wimberly Invitational, he went 6-under-par again, this time taking third. In both tournaments, the Lopes also won the team title. He rounded out his month with a 14th-place finish at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational to help lead GCU to a runner-up finish among 13 teams. For the month, he finished with a 72.08 scoring average
Chanachai, a freshman from Bangkok, Thailand (The Demonstration School of Ramkhamhaeng), posted the top scoring average in the WAC over the month of October by over a stroke, finishing the month averaging 72.40 per round. At the NM State Aggie Invitational, she was 4-over-par to finish in a tie for 2nd among 59 golfers as NMSU won their own tournament. She followed that up with a 2-under-par 142 at the weather-shortened Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, tying for 28th among 105 golfers.
Other men's nominees: NM State's Luis Medina average 70.0 strokes per round on the month, led by a third-place finish at the Price's Give Em Five Invitational … Seattle U's Kyle Cornett improved his game throughout the month, finishing up the fall season with a 71.4 stroke average for the month, led by a seventh-place finish at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational … UT Rio Grande Valley's Pedro Lamadrid went 2-under-par at the Price's Give Em Five Invitational to cap a strong month for the Vaqueros … Utah Valley's Blair Bursey finish in the top-25 of every tournament he entered in October, led by a 10th-place finish at the OGIO Utah Invitational.
Other women's nominees: Grand Canyon's Deanna Salvatori was the Lopes' top player at both tournaments they played in the month of October … Seattle U's Ellen Brantberg took 12th at the Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational in her only tournament of the month … UT Rio Grande Valley's Michelle Moroles posted a pair of top-25 finishes on the month, finishing with a 77.5 stroke average for October … Utah Valley's Ana Raga used a 1-under-par 71 in the opening round to lead UVU to their third-best three-round team score at the Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational.