Plus: Updates on Lobo Men’s, Women’s 2021 Seasons; Honors to Jill Trujillo, Myah McDonald
Lobo Junior Sam Choi of The University of New Mexico men’s golf team has been named to the 2021 Golf Coaches Association of America PING Division I All-Region Team for his 2020-21 play.
Choi, who earns the honor for a second time, finished his junior season ranked No. 35 in the nation as an individual by GolfStat with an adjusted scoring average of 71.28 strokes per round.
He helped the Lobos claim the 2021 Mountain West Championship, tying for the overall Mountain West Individual title before falling in a four-way playoff. He also helped the Lobos to a tie for seventh place finish in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional.
Choi led the Lobos in five of UNM’s eight competitions on the season while registering three top-five finishes, four in the top 10, and six of eight of his performances were in the top 20 of the field. He finished the season with a 70.83 average over 24 rounds with a low round of 66 at the Mountain West Tournament and also posted a team-most 22 counted rounds on the season.
In Other UNM Golf News:
Lobo Men’s and Women’s Golf Seasons End at the NCAA Regionals
The UNM men and women both failed to advance from the Albuquerque NCAA regionals. The men played on their home course, the UNM Championship Golf Course, and the women competed at Ohio State in Columbus.
The men completed the regional tied for seventh place (856, 8-under), just four strokes behind fifth-place San Diego (12-under). Six teams advanced to the championship in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Freshman Bastien Amat, who was leading the field for the majority of the final round, finished tied for fourth (207, 9-under) and failed to advance to the championship, held at Grayhawk Golf Club.
The UNM women wrapped up its 2021 season tied for 15th place, shooting their best round on the final day of competition.
Ol’ Miss took the NCAA women’s championship while Pepperdine appeared on the afternoon of June 2 of defeating Oklahoma for the men’s title, defeating Oklahoma State. A week later on the Grayhawk course, Pepperdine won its second NCAA title, besting Oklahoma.
Coach Jill Trujillo, Myah McDonald Honored by Mountain West
After claiming the Mountain West Women’s Golf Championship title, Lobo women’s Head Coach Jill Trujillo was named Mountain West Coach of the Year while freshman Myah McDonald has been tabbed Mountain West Freshman of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
In addition, two Lobo women players were named to the All-Mountain West Second Team as sophomores Napat “Jenny” Lertsadwattana and Lauren Lehigh both made the list. New Mexico posts the most members to the All-Conference list this year (4) of any other team.
This marks the second straight season that the Lobos have taken the Freshman of the Year honor as Lertsadwattana earned the accolade in 2020. This season also marks the second that Lertsadwattana has been named to the All-MOUNTAIN WEST Second Team. The WGCA All-American Scholar posts a team-low 73.90 stroke average and a team-low round of 70 on the season after leading UNM in four of its seven competitions.
By New Mexico Golf News staff
