FILE PHOTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman Erica Blasberg waits to putt earlier this season. Blasberg is the nation's top-ranked golfer as a freshman.

Nation's top golfer cleans up with three Pac-10 conference awards ... and she's just a freshman

When the women's golf team tapped in its last putts at the Pacific-10 conference Championship this weekend, taking home another title was out of reach, but for freshman Erica Blasberg, her reception of a piece of tin made the weekend memorable.

Blasberg received Pac-10 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, along with being named to the Pac-10 First Team, something that hasn't been uncommon for Wildcat golfers to dominate in the past.

"It was an awesome feeling," Blasberg said. "We were sitting at the (Pac-10 awards) banquet and I thought everything was over, so when they handed me this award, I was astonished."

Since the Freshman of the Year award started four years ago, the Wildcats have taken home two, with Lorena Ochoa grabbing it in 2001.

Blasberg has been impressive all year, but her success started before she teed it up as a Wildcat.

Blasberg's rise in the world of women's golf began when she won the illustrious AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions öö arguably the toughest junior golf tournament in the world.

"Erica's year started by winning the AJGA Rolex," head coach Greg Allen said. "It gave her a ton of confidence coming into her freshman year."

Blasberg couldn't agree more with her coach, and thinks that it vaulted her to another level in her golfing ability.

"During the summer my game was pretty good," she said. "I was playing well, but my game really came out that week. It was my best tournament of junior golf and from that point on I had a lot of confidence. The tournament was very beneficial to me."

Blasberg's first collegiate tournament was her only finish out of the top six, a tie for 21st at the Fall Preview, which the Wildcats won.

After that, she failed to make the top three once, a feat similar to that of Ochoa's amazing year in 2002.

"Consistency-wise, the year was the same as Lorena's," Allen said. "They (both) possess the same competitive fire and both hate to lose. They give it all they have during the entire tournament and not only want to win individually, but want the team to win."

Blasberg, currently the top ranked golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, won the Stanford-Pepsi Intercollegiate during the fall. She also won the Wildcat Invitational in front of her home crowd, and has played against some of the top individuals in the nation, including second ranked Katherine Hull of Pepperdine.

"It was neat to win at home," she said. "All my golf fans would see my name but nobody had any connection. Winning at home was an amazing experience."

Blasberg's year didn't just stop at the collegiate level; she tied for 49th in her first career LPGA event, the Welch's/Fry's Championship, that was highlighted by a 64 in the second round.

Even with the Pac-10 being as competitive as it has been this year, Blasberg was the overall favorite for the Player of the Year award.

"I guess I expected to get the award if they had one," Blasberg said. "I played good in the Pac-10s all year."

The freshman phenom will have one more time to shine, as the women head to North Carolina next week for the Regional Tournament, with the Wildcats going to Wake Forest as the second seed in the East Bracket.

Allen seems confident with his star.

"I wouldn't trade Erica for anyone in the country right now," he said. "She's always number one on my list."