University of New Mexico alumna Ingrid Gutierrez Nunez (Cuautla, Mexico) fired the low round of the day on Saturday, a bogey-free 8-under-par 64. Nunez climbed the leaderboard from T22 at the end of the day on Friday to solo-sixth going into the final round of the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.
“At the beginning of the day I was stressed out about some things outside of the tournament,” Nunez said. “But at the end of the day I enjoyed the moment and stayed in the present. My caddy and psychologist, Jorge Martinez, was really helping me to just be here, be happy and give 100% every time.”
The 64 is Nunez’s career-best in three years on the Road to the LPGA. She competed in all ten events last season on the Epson Tour only making five cuts. With a season best of T34, Nunez took the off-season to work with her team on all aspects of her game.
“The first thing was that I realized I needed to work more on the parts of my game that aren’t as good,” she said. “I was just focusing on practicing on not being as specific, especially on the things I don’t like to practice. I did a lot of work during the preseason with my coach and strength coach. I was really focused on improving all parts of my game.
“I really am trying to have a smarter schedule this year. The past years I was focused on just playing. That didn’t work. I needed to give myself space. When I am tired, I am tired, and I understand that I might need to miss a tournament to be good for another three because that will be more efficient. I really need to be true to myself and make the right decisions.”
Tomorrow, Nunez will tee off at 10:29 AM PT on No. 1 in the penultimate group of the first tournament of the season.
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