Oct. 19, 2010
Alsiter MacKenzie Final Results
FAIRFAX, Calif. — University of New Mexico men’s golfer Travis Ross finished strong at the final round of Cal’s Alister MacKenzie Invitational Tuesday, shooting a 4-under-par 67 to finish the tournament in sixth place with an 11-under 65-70-67=202. Ross claimed yet another top-10 finish, his third straight this fall season and fifth of his New Mexico career.
Ross is coming off a 10th-place showing at the Lobos’ William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the beginning of the month. He preceded that with a second-place finish at the Mark Simpson Invitational in late September.
“All the hard work over the past couple of years has really started to pay off,” Ross said. “After having some success last year, I realized that you don’t have to do anything magical to score well, just go out there and play smart golf. It’s my goal every round to simply not make a bogey.”
Ross again took advantage of the Meadow Cub’s par fives Tuesday, birding two of the three. Ross was 7-under on the course’s longest holes Monday, bringing him to 9-under for the tournament – tops in the field.
“They’re pretty short, really,” Ross said. “They’re tight as far as driving the ball is concerned, and well protected on either side. But, if you can hit a decent drive, you’re going to be in pretty good shape for a birdie.”
“Travis had a very good tournament,” Lobos’ coach Glen Millican said. “Overall, the team just didn’t play our best golf.”
Millican is referring to the other four Lobos in central California. After Ross, the next best finish from a New Mexico golfer came from sophomore Ryan Gay, who tied for 45th with a 1-over 72-70-72=214. Seniors Tom Carlson and Sam Chavez tied for 68th at 7-over, Carlson with a 73-73-74=220 and Chavez with a 75-74-71=220. Sophomore John Catlin rounded out the Lobos’ effort with a 12-over 77-75-73=225, tying for 75th.
The Lobos did close the third round with their best score of the tournament, carding a 1-under 283. New Mexico, which had entered the MacKenzie ranked 27th by Golfstat and 30th by Golfweek, still managed to climb only one spot in the team standings after Monday’s disappointing first two rounds, finishing in 13th place with a 3-over 285-287-283=855.
The host Bears fended off a furious rally attempt by San Diego State, winning the team title with a 48-under 804. The Aztecs shot 16-under Tuesday, closing with a 46-under 806. No other team came within nine strokes of San Diego State’s final-round score.
Oregon State (-27, 825), UC Davis (-23, 829) and UC Irvine (-20, 832) round out the top five.
Ross finished five strokes out of first place, won by San Diego State’s Alex Kang. The Aztec’s junior started the final round tied for the lead with the Bears’ Ben An, but managed to eek past the Cal freshman by a single stroke, 197-198.
New Mexico closes out its fall season at its next event, the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, on November 1 and 2. The Royal Oaks is held at the Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas.