Nov. 10, 2009

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State freshman Christine Wong (Richmond, B.C.) has been named the Mountain West Conference Golfer of the Month for her performances in three tournaments in October and November, the league office announced Tuesday. Wong becomes the first Aztec women's golfer to earn the award since 2004, and is only the sixth SDSU player in the MWC's 11-year history so honored.

Wong's first semester on Montezuma Mesa was highlighted by her first-place performance at the Price's "Give `Em" Five Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M., Oct. 12-14. Wong beat out 93 other golfers to become the first Aztec to win a 54-hole tournament in six years, blowing away the SDSU individual record by five strokes. Wong fired three consecutive sub-70 rounds (69-68-69) with 12 total birdies and 40 pars to log a 10-under 206. She was one of only three participants to finish under par at the three-day event and ended up four strokes better than her nearest competitor.

Earlier in October, Wong was 11th at the CU Heather Farr Memorial Invitational in Erie, Colo., with a 9-over 225. Last week, she tied for the team lead with an 11-over 227 at the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational in Kahuku, Oahu.

In team competition, Wong helped SDSU to a pair of third-place finishes and an 11th-place performance in Hawaii to round out the 2009 fall schedule. In Las Cruces, the Aztecs posted their lowest round of the MWC era (since 2000) with a 3-under 285 in the final 18 holes and came in with the second-best 54-hole total (16-over 880) in school history (best since 2003).

San Diego State, under first-year head coach Emilee Klein, is currently ranked 53rd nationally according to golfstat.com. Wong, who has the second-best season stroke average in the Mountain West Conference (73.17), is rated 61st nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin.

The Aztecs resume their 2009-10 campaign in February at The Gold Rush in Seal Beach, Calif., Feb. 8-9, 2010.