Britney Choy knew this day would come a year sooner, but she did it anyway.

The 2006 Leilehua graduate was slowed by a back injury after her freshman season and opted to have surgery.

New Mexico coach Jill Trujillo gave her the choice to sit out a year or return for the spring season of her sophomore year.

Choy decided the latter and was back on the course in the spring of 2008, when she went on one of the best runs of her career. She had three top-11 finishes in six tournaments, capped off by a fourth-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championships to help earn her a spot on the all-conference team.

But by coming back to play in the spring, Choy lost a chance to extend her collegiate career a year. Instead of plugging along through her junior season, Choy is now nearly halfway home to completing her final season of eligibility.

Choy was en route yesterday to North Carolina for the Landfill Tradition, the final tournament of the fall season.

  The 25th-ranked New Mexico women's golf team will compete in a field that includes the top six teams ranked in the most recent Golfweek Poll, and 17 of the top 31 teams overall.

The tournament is being held at the Pete Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall, where the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf Championship will be played.

Choy was the Lobos' top finisher at the NCAA championships as a junior, finishing in a tie for 32nd at 14-over 302. Choy's successful junior season also included a second-place finish at the MWC Championships and an eighth-place finish at the Dick McGuire Invitational, where she matched her low round of the year with an even-par 72.

This season, Choy has two top-15 finishes in three events. She's played nine rounds and is averaging 73.44 per round, good for third best on the team.

The Lobos established a school record with the lowest 54-hole team score, finishing at 10-under 866 in the Dick McGuire Invitational, where Choy shot one of her two rounds of 70 this season.

After this week's tournament is over, New Mexico doesn't compete again until the Arizona Wildcat Invitational Feb. 22 and 23. Choy will compete in five more events, including the MWC Championships, April 15-17, in Seaside, Calif., before likely finishing her career at the NCAA championships May 18-21.