March 30, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV women's golf senior Therese Koelbaek has earned her third Mountain West Conference Golfer of the Month honor, the league office announced Wednesday.
"Receiving the award is an honor and I am appreciative of the recognition from our conference," said Koelbaek. "It has been a really great month where my game has progressed with each tournament and I am very excited for the next couple of weeks and hopefully I can continue to improve my game."
The honor marks the sixth time she has earned the MWC's Golfer of the Month. Koelbaek was just the seventh player in the history of the conference to have earned the award in back-to-back months following her two fall honors. Her six-career kudos put her one behind the all-time leader, Kailin Downs of New Mexico, who was a seven-time honoree from 2001-05.
Koelbaek picked up three top-seven finishes during the month of March, marking eight top-eight finishes on the year for the Denmark native. Koelbaek helped guide the Rebels to three top-10 team finishes, making seven of eight tournaments in which they have placed in the top-10.
"Therese had a great month on the course," said first-year head coach Amy Bush. "She has continued to give herself opportunities to win each event and enters the final."
At the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, a two-day event held in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the par-72, 6,139-yard Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course, Koelbaek bested 10 of the nation's top 100 ranked golfers, capturing fourth place at 5-over par for the tournament, which featured just one player under par.
The following weekend she turned in a season-best finish, tying for second place at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo, held in San Diego and featured a field of 17 teams, 16 of which were ranked in the top-50 in the nation. Her 1-under total on the par-72, 6,336-yard Rancho Bernardo Golf Course was better than all five of the top-10 ranked golfers at the tournament.
Koelbaek has turned in 10 rounds under par this season and through 24 total rounds, leads the Mountain West Conference with a 72.00 scoring average, nearly two strokes better than the next closest golfer.
