UTEP Women’s Golf Set to Embark on Hawai’i Trip

UTEP Miners

The UTEP women's golf team will make its annual trek to the Aloha State to participate in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 13-14) at the Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course in Kane'ohe, O'ahu.

The Miners return to competition for the first time in a month, as they play in the second of four spring tournaments leading into the Conference USA Championships at Fort Myers, Fla. next month.

UTEP took seventh place in its first tournament of the spring, the Texas State Invitational Feb. 12-13 in San Marcos. Braving high winds and frigid temperatures, the Miners shot 901 (306-297-298) as a team led by sophomore Abbie Anghelescu, who tied for 18th place with a 10-over-par 223 (77-73-73).

Anghelescu will join senior June Ting, junior Lily Downs and freshmen Valeria Mendizabal and Taylor Stone in coach Jere Pelletier's lineup for the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational. The Miners claimed 13th place out of 15 teams in this event a year ago.

UTEP's seventh-place showing at Texas State snapped a run of three consecutive top-three finishes in tournaments this season. Overall the Miners have landed in the top-three at four of six events in 2017-18.

"The team has been working hard since Texas State," Pelletier said. "We have played a lot of golf and hopefully the girls will perform well next week."

Downs continues to lead the Miners in scoring average (74.0), with Ting second (75.4) and Anghelescu third (75.6). Downs leads UTEP with three top-10 finishes on the year, while Downs and Ting share the lead with four top-20 placements.

The Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational is in its 33rd year and is a long-time staple on the Miners' schedule. The 2018 field features Colorado State, Hawai'i, Hawai'i-Hilo, Hawai'i Pacific, Houston, Oklahoma State, Osaka Gakuin, Pepperdine, Rutgers, Texas, Texas A&M, UTEP and Washington State. Three of those teams are listed in the top-25 of the latest Golfstat rankings – Texas (sixth), Oklahoma State (17th) and Houston (24th) – and Texas A&M checks in at no. 31. The highest-rated individual participating in the tournament is Texas senior Sophia Schubert (fifth).

The Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course, located on the windward side of the island of O'ahu, has served as home to the tournament every year except 2000 and 2001, when it moved to Olomana Golf Links. The Kilpper is known for its majestic views of the Ko'olau Mountain Range and the raging surf of the Pacific Ocean. The course rating is 71 and it has a slope rating of 130 on Bermuda grass.

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