Emma Bunch picked up the win at Golfweek Fall Challenge

Emma Bunch didn’t see much of the real estate at Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The New Mexico State junior missed only two fairways in 54 holes at the Golfweek Fall Challenge on her way to a winning score of 7 under.

This is typical for the player from Denmark. Given the accuracy, the next stat is unsurprising: Bunch has now won six of the last seven starts she has made with the Aggies. That track record helped land her on the preseason ANNIKA Award Watch List, where she was one of 10 players on the final watch list in the spring.

“I think I’ve always been a good ballstriker, but my short game has gotten a lot of better over the last year or so,” Bunch said. “Now, even if I miss a green, I think I could get up and down. That’s why I’m barely making bogeys right now.”

Scores: Golfweek Fall Challenge

Part of Bunch’s success at Caledonia on Sept. 10 can be attributed to a course that suits her. She finished T-8 there as a freshman and runner-up as a sophomore. But a much bigger part of the college winning streak she’s riding has to do with short game and confidence.

“She was just able to really expand on her short game and her putting last season, and I think that’s the tip of the iceberg when she got that first win this past spring, she really just took off with it and her confidence was through the roof plus some,” New Mexico State coach Danny Bowen said.

Bunch agrees with Bowen’s assessment that short game has been a difference maker, and the Aggie golf facilities have had a lot to do with that. Bunch found it easier to practice more once she got to college, particularly because team practices often focused on short game.

She also gained exposure to many more different types of grass than she had seen back home in Denmark.

Short game aside, Bunch struggles to put her finger on what has unlocked the door to so many tournament titles. Before winning the GCU Invitational last February, Bunch had not won a college tournament. Her next four spring tournament titles included the Ping/ASU Invitational and the Conference-USA Championship. She qualified for the NCAA Cle Elum Regional as an individual and finished T-24, but did not advance to the NCAA Championship.

“I don’t feel like anything has really changed, but I can look at my scores and they’re way better than they were before, so I guess something did unlock,” she said. “I think definitely a little bit more confident and a little…