Oct. 14, 2010
Photo Gallery l Click Here for Information on the 2010 W.A.T.C.
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV women's golf senior Therese Koelbaek will take a short break from collegiate competition in the coming fortnight after being selected as part of the three-member team to represent Denmark at the 2010 World Amateur Team Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 16-31.
Practice rounds start on Saturday, Oct. 16, and continue through Tuesday the 19th. First-round action for the Espirito Santo Trophy kicks off with teams competing at both the Olivos Golf Club and the Buenos Aires Golf Club on Wednesday, Oct. 20, and will conclude Saturday, Oct. 23.
"I am extremely excited to go to Argentina to play for Denmark," said Koelbaek. "It is always special to represent your country and for amateur golf it doesn't get much bigger than the World Championships."
Koelbaek, a three-time All-Mountain West Conference First Team selection and two-time All-American, was also selected to the 2008 squad which tied for eighth place out of 48 teams in Australia. Koelbaek finished tied for 27th overall in 2008 after shooting 9-over par during the four-day event, including a final round 71 which helped her jump 12 spots up the leader board.
"I am graduating this year, so this tournament will most likely be the last amateur event I play in, making it a special trip for me," added Koelbaek. "I feel like I am playing well at the moment and hopefully I will be able to keep it up in South America. My team and coaches at UNLV have given me tremendous support and I am excited to represent both my home country and my university at such a prestigious event."
One of the most accomplished golfers in UNLV history, Koelbaek has posted three of the top four scoring averages for a season and enters this year with the second-lowest career average. She has the top two lowest rounds shot by a Rebel, the lowest round to par, low tournament to par and low tournament scores as well.
"We are very excited to have Therese playing in the World Amateur Championship," said first-year head coach Amy Bush. "Therese is an excellent representative for Denmark as well as UNLV women's golf. She is playing excellent golf this season and I know she will perform well for Team Denmark during the tournament. We will be watching and cheering from Las Vegas!"
Koelbaek will be writing a blog discussing her travels south of the equator, the competition among the 54-team field and recapping action throughout her stay in Argentina through the UNLV athletics website, www.UNLVrebels.com.
BLOG ENTRY #5
Here comes the last blog from Argentina!
Back in Vegas now, I can look back at 10 amazing days in Argentina. In the fourth and final round the team score was 1 over par, counting my Teammate Charlotte at 75 and myself at 70. As a team we finished tied for 11th which was not what we set out for, but none of us were able to really bring the A-game. Individually I ended up tied for 16th in a score of even par over the 4 rounds. I did not play as well as I had hoped, but I cannot complain about a top 20 finish considering my game during the tournament. I did learn a lot down there that I can take with me back to Vegas and I am excited to get to work.
The long bus rides to and from the courses unfortunately meant that there was not really time to see anything else than the golf course and the hotel. Even though golf is not as physically hard as many other sports, 8 days straight of morning runs and more than 8 hours on a golf course (both practicing and playing) will get to you. However, my teammates, coach and captain were great to be around and we had a lot of fun together. For amateur golf it doesn't get bigger than the World Amateur Team Championship and I had a great experience in Buenos Aires.
Now I am back in Vegas and ready to play the last tournament of the year. This time I will be representing the Rebels again at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown. This is the third straight tournament and it will be nice with a little break from golf soon, for now however there is still a job to do in Vegas. Go Rebels ;o)
Thank you so much for following me in Argentina!
-Therese
BLOG ENTRY #4
Waking up this morning the legs were a bit more tired than usual after being on the go for the last 5 days straight. Nonetheless we all ventured out on the daily morning run and then headed for the golf course to play the second round of the WATC.
Today I finally started hitting the golf ball out of the center of the clubface which is definitely preferable. Combining that with making some putts I ended up shooting 69 and my two teammates both shot 71 for a team score of 140 (-4). At one point during the round we were 7-under par counting me at 4-under and Line at 3-under, putting us in 6th place. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to finish as strong as yesterday and all dropped a few shots on the back nine. Despite the fact that we were all under par, we only advanced two spots to a tie for 11th. At least now that the game is better for all of us, we can hope to all post even lower scores tomorrow and get up higher on the leader board.
After the round my team and I went over to the range and had some fun trying to hit the most impossible shots. My Danish coach also got into action and I am sorry to say that he beat us in a few of the competitions; hitting it straight however, is quite the challenge for him to our delight :o)
Now we are heading down for another amazing Argentinean steak and some fun at the dinner table. After that we will most likely head straight for the bed because these days tend to knock some energy out of all of us.
Ciao
-Therese
BLOG ENTRY #3
Yesterday night the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship was officially declared open during the official banquet. I have now been to many of these kinds of opening ceremonies, and even though they can get a bit trivial, it is a very nice way to present every team, raise the flags of every nation present, and hear a few welcoming words by officials in the International Golf Federation. After the ceremony we all went back to the hotel to rest before the first round.
Today we started the tournament, and unfortunately it was a little tough out there to say the least. My two teammates and I struggled with our game, and that taken into consideration, it was decent scores that we posted. My teammate Line Hansen shot 71 on the par 72 course, I shot 74, and my other Danish teammate Charlotte Lorentzen shot 75. Only the top two scores of each team is counted toward the team championship so the team score for the day was 145 (+1).
I got off to a rough start and managed to spread my driver all over the course making it tough to reach greens - not ideal for a low round. After the first 12 holes I was 4 over par but somehow I slowly found my game again. Unfortunately by that time I was running out of holes to play. However, with two birdies on my last 3 holes I finished with a final score of 2-over par, saving a little face.
My teammates and I are currently in 13th place and hoping that we can all improve tomorrow. None of us actually felt like we played well, but luckily we were able to score with what we had to play with. Tomorrow we are playing on Buenos Aires Golf Club and hopefully we will be able to make some more birdies!
Updates will follow after tomorrows round :o)
-Therese
BLOG ENTRY #2
Another two practice rounds are done, and my teammates and I now only have one more practice round left before the tournament begins Wednesday morning. The tee times are official for the first two rounds, and Thursday we will be playing with the US team which should be fun.
The weather has been great so far with lots of sun during the day. We have now spent more days down here now and are slowly getting a hang of the culture. Things are done a little differently down here and the service in restaurants is not done in the same speed as in the US. We have to plan for at least 1½ hours for a casual dinner, but when the steaks finally arrive they are worth the wait. All the days so far have been used mostly on the golf course playing the 18 holes and practicing a lot both before and after. I have been playing well so far and am very excited about starting the tournament soon. Two years ago my team and I finished in 8th place so we are looking for improvements this year and hopefully a top 5 finish.
Tomorrow I am looking forward to another great day on the golf course. The day will also feature team pictures as well as the official banquet of the tournament.
Hasta luego
-Therese
BLOG ENTRY #1
After a combined 15 hours in an airplane and a two hour layover in Atlanta, I arrived in Buenos Aires at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Slightly jetlagged and tired after the long trip my two Danish teammates, as well as our coach and captain took it fairly easy all day just working out and looking around in the city. People are very nice and it is fun seeing the city and experiencing the South American culture since I have never been here before.
Today (Saturday) was the first official practice round of the tournament and the five of us spent most of the day on the course (us girls playing, the coach watching and helping and the captain taking pictures). Since we are playing on two different courses (due to the many teams participating) we have a total of 4 practice rounds to get through - 2 practice rounds on each course.
Today we played on the Golf Club of Buenos Aires and tomorrow (Sunday) we will head to the Olivos Golf Club. The weather was great and the course is in amazing shape. We all have caddies for the entire tournament and got to meet them today. Unfortunately they do not speak English very well and last time I checked, my Spanish was not very useful, so communication is on a very basic level. Nonetheless, they seem very nice and it is definitely a big help to have someone carrying the bag when we are playing for 8 days straight.
Tomorrow we have a tee time at 8:20 a.m., and because the courses are an hour away from the hotel, we have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. in order to go for the mandatory run in the morning. It will definitely be some long days down here and there is not a lot of down time, but it is definitely a lot of fun!
Talk to you guys later!
-Therese
