United Athletic Conference

NM State's Amelia McKee has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week for Feb. 26 through March 3.

 

McKee, a sophomore from Spring, Texas, took advantage of a trip to her home state, winning the UTRGV Invitational by six strokes with a 4-under-par 212. After firing a 1-over-par 73 in the opening round, she went 2-under-par in the second round and 3-under-par in the final round to bring home medalist honors. She also led the Aggies to the team title, as NM State won by 10 strokes with a 21-over-par 885. On the season, McKee is sixth in the conference in scoring average at 74.1 strokes per round.

 

Other women's nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Vicky Gonzalez posted her first top-10 finish of the season, taking seventh at the UTRGV Invitational with a 5-over-par 221.

 

As the calendar turns to March, the spring schedule ramps up. Utah Valley and NM State will be the next teams to compete, traveling ot the BYU at Entrada Classic and Wildcat Invitational respectively. Seattle U heads to the Hawai'i for the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational  beginning on March 10. California Baptist and CSU Bakersfield will each head to St. George for the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Invitational, beginning on March 12. Grand Canyon stays closer to home, participating in Notre Dame's Clover Cup in Mesa, Ariz. while CSU Bakersifeld will stop in Henderson , Nev. on March 14 for a dual with North Dakota. Finally, UT Rio Grande Valley and Chicago State will be in the Houston-area on Monday, March 16. The Vaqueros will be at the HBU Husky Invitational while the Cougars travel to the Prairie View A&M Spring Invitational.

 

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 73.8. On the team side, Grand Canyon leads the way with 294.8 stroke average. NM State is second at 296.0, 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. McKee made it two torunaments on the year, posting a 4-under-par 212 to win the UTRGV Invitational. The Aggies also won the team title in McAllen with a 21-over-par 885.

 

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.