Oct. 1, 2010
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s golf team is in second place after two rounds at the 56th annual William H. Tucker held at the UNM Championship Golf Course Friday. The Lobos carded a 4-over-par 292-288=580 and sit four strokes behind tournament leader North Texas heading into Saturday’s final round.
New Mexico saw five of its 10 golfers finish in the top 25 on Friday. Sam Chavez and Ryan Barry led New Mexico and, along with teammates John Catlin and Tom Carlson, remain in the hunt for the individual title. Chavez and Barry are tied for ninth at 1-over par, Chavez having carded a 75-70=145 and Barry a 71-74=145. Catlin (72-74=146) and Carlson (75-71=146) are tied for 14th at 2-over.
Travis Ross (75-73=148, +4) is in a six-way tie for 23rd, with teammates Sam Saunders (75-74=149, +5) and Shane McDonald (72-77=149, +5) one stroke back and tied for 29th. Lobo newcomer Tom Richardson (76-74=150, +6) is tied for 35th.
Ryan Gay (70-85=155, +11) is tied for 59th and Alex Estrada (78-79=157, +13) is tied for 70th to round out the Lobos’ team scoring.
Saturday’s final round, a shotgun-format start, is scheduled to begin at 7:45 a.m. MT.
“I’m very happy with the way our team played today,” Lobo head coach Glen Millican said. “When you have eight different scores counting over 36 holes, it would be easy to pick apart each round and find mistakes. But overall, I’m very happy with how the guys handled their two rounds. It was a solid 36 holes for us.”
New Mexico is fielding both a varsity and jayvee squad, with five Lobos taking part for each team.
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“I expect us to go out and execute our gameplan the best we can. If that happens, I think we’ll be happy with the results.” Lobo Head Coach Glen Millican |
The Lobos, ranked 43rd nationally this week by Saragin/Golfweek, finished two strokes ahead of No. 6 Pepperdine (296-286=582, +6) and three strokes ahead of No. 21 and Mountain West Conference rival San Diego State (291-292=583, +7). Brigham Young is in fifth at 12-over (298-290=588).
Travis Ross watches his putt during the first round of the 2010 William H. Tucker intercollegiate |
The Waves’ Andrew Putnam leads the individual competition, having shot a 10-under 69-65=134. His second-round 65 tied San Diego State’s Colin Featherstone for the lowest round carded by any of the 88 competitors during either round. The Mean Green’s Carlos Ortiz is in second with a 7-under 71-66=137. The Aztecs’ Alex Kang, who led after the first round with a 5-under 67, is in third place at 4-under after shooting a 1-over 73 during the second round. North Texas’ Josh Jones (72-69=141, -3) is in fourth, followed by Brigham Young’s Zac Blair (71-72=143, -1) and Featherstone (78-65=143, -1) tied for fifth.
The course is in fantastic shape,” Millican said of the Lobos’ home stomping grounds. “I couldn’t be happier with the job Mountain West Golfscape and superintendent Scott Pilgreen did getting the course ready. It’s in the best condition I’ve ever remember seeing it in for the Tucker.
“I’m anticipating another great day of golf tomorrow from the whole field,” Millican continued. “As for our team, I expect us to go out and execute our gameplan the best we can. If that happens, I think we’ll be happy with the results.”