United Athletic Conference

Grand Canyon's Alexis Linam has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week for Feb. 19 through Feb. 25.

 

Linam, a junior from Phoenix, recorded her first collegiate victory and helped the Lopes capture their own tournament with a 6-under-par 138. She got off to the quick lead, shooing a 4-under-par 68 in the first round before coming back with a 2-under-par 70 in the final round to secure the win. Linam sank 8 birdies in the tournament, including a big one on the 15th hole of the final round as the Lopes won by 1 shot over California Baptist.

 

Other women's nominees: California Baptist's Sofia Chabon fired a collegiate-best 3-under-par 141 to take third at the GCU Invitational … CSU Bakersfield's Brandi Borjon tied her career-low with an even-par-72 in the final round to lead the 'Runners … Seattle U's Kimberlee Tottori took second at the GCU Invitational, tying the school record for 36-hole score with a 4-under-par 140 … UT Rio Grande Valley's Julie Lucio tied for 21st at the Islander Classic with a 54-hole total of 230 … Utah Valley's Lauren Taylor led the Wolverines with a 4-over-par 1480 to tie for 16th at the GCU Invitational.

 

Eight of the nine schools in the WAC have teed off already this spring and the ninth, Chicago State, will open up the second half of the season next week at the UTRGV Invitational in McAllen, Texas. Joining the Cougars in the Valley will be Kansas City, NM State and host UT Rio Grande Valley.

 

Grand Canyon's Siripatsorn Patchana leads the WAC in stroke average at 72.3 through 13 rounds played. California Baptist's Jocelyn Chee is second at 73.2, followed by NM State's Dominique Galloway in third at 73.4. On the team side, Grand Canyon leads the way with 294.8 stroke average. NM State is second at 296.1, followed by California Baptist in third at 298.7.

 

California Baptist's Jocelyn Chee became the first medalist of the season, tying for the top spot at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic with an even-par 213 over 54 holes. NM State became the first WAC team to win a tournament, taking first at the Colonel Wollenberg's Ptarmigan Ram Classic with a 26-over-par 890. The Aggies picked up another team and individual title at their own Aggie Invitational as Amelia McKee took home medalist honors with a 5-under-par 211 and NM State earned the team title with a 3-under-par 861. The first wins of the spring went to Grand Canyon with the Lopes winning the team title at the GCU  Invitational and Alexis Linam taking home medalist honors with a 6-under-par 138.

 

For the first time since 2004, the WAC Championship heads to Texas as Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville will play host to the conference tournament on April 26-28, 2020. Designed by Byron Nelson and Joe Finger, Riverhill has been host to over 40 USGA and Texas Golf Association events.