Nov. 9, 2011
SAN DIEGO - - San Diego State junior Christine Wong (Richmond, B.C.) has been named the Mountain West Conference Golfer of the Month for her performances in October, the league office announced Wednesday. The honor is the third of Wong's career, which matches as the most by an Aztec in the 13-year history of the Mountain West.
Last month, Wong won her third career tournament, but her first since her freshman campaign, when she finished first at the Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif., Oct. 8-9. Wong, who was seventh after the first 18 holes, earned a four-stroke victory with the help of a final-round 69, which the best round by any golfer in the tournament over the 54 holes.
The 5-foot-2 Canadian also finished in the top 25 at the team's other two outings during the month of October, highlighted by an eighth-place performance at the fall-ending Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown. Wong opened the Las Vegas event with a 5-under 67, which was a career low, the best 18 holes by an Aztec since 2008 and the low round by any player in the conference this season. She also was the team's top golfer at the prestigious Stanford Intercollegiate, taking 25th with two consecutive even-par rounds.
Wong is currently ranked 38th nationally by golfstat.com and is 58th in the Golfweek/Sagarin index. She leads the conference in season stroke average at 72.83 and is one of only two MW players to win an individual title in 2011.
As a team, San Diego State finished in the top five of three of its four fall tournaments under first-year head coach Leslie Spalding. The No. 31/34 Aztecs lead the conference in team season stroke average (295.17) and are the only MW school to win an event thus far in 2011.
SDSU returns to action in 2012, when it resumes its schedule at the Arizona Lady Wildcat Invitational in Oro Valley, Ariz., Feb. 5-7.