June 6, 2011
Lobo Men`s Golf — 2010-11 Season Review
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It was a season that teased Lobo Coach Glen Millican. It was an up-and-down run across some of the more challenging tracks of golf that started off hot and even finished hot. But there was a lot of in between stuff that produced a season that left Millican and his Lobos thinking too much about what could have been.
It was a season distinguished by a great tourney win, by Travis Ross’ charge in the Mountain West Tournament, by Ross’s Academic All-District honors, and by a Lobo team that threw out an 18-hole score unmatched in program history.
But it also was a frustrating season of “what ifs.”
“We got off to a great start,” said the New Mexico men’s golf coach. “But we weren’t able to maintain the consistent level of play the way we wanted to and needed to. We had some bright spots, but all in all it wasn’t the year we were looking for.”
The expectations in Millican’s program are to win Mountain West titles and surge into NCAA play. The way the 2010-2011 season started, it looked like the Lobos would challenge for both those things. UNM started the season with a solid fourth-place finish Sept. 21 at the Golfweek’s Conference Challenge in Burlington, Iowa. The next outing a week later was even better for the Lobos.
There is no better way to open a season’s first month than with a win and the Lobos did that in September when their three seniors — Travis Ross, Sam Chavez and Tom Carlson — paced the Lobos to a one-shot win at the Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie, Colo.
The Lobos were paced to the win when they threw out a course-scorching 12-under par 276 over the second 18 holes of the tourney. The Lobos got birdies on the 18th green from Ross and birdies on No. 17 from Chavez and Ryan Gay to edge out the field at the wire. Ross finished second at the Mark Simpson.
“We won in Colorado and had some strong performances around that time,” said Ross. “It looked like we were really getting things going in the right direction. But as far as the season goes, we really didn’t keep the momentum up after starting off so hot.”
The win in Colorado handed Millican his 16th tourney win as a Lobo coach. UNM finished at 5-under to beat the 13-team field. “It’s tough to win a college golf tournament,” said Millican.
Maybe Millican’s words proved to be too prophetic. That tourney was UNM’s last win of the season, and Ross would go on to finish second in the Mountain West Tournament’s individual race.
The Lobos came back in October with a solid third-place finish in their own William H. Tucker Invitational held at UNM’s Championship Course. The Lobos actually held the lead on the final day, but a bold charge by San Diego State handed the Aztecs the team title by a shot over North Texas and by two shots over the host Lobos. Ross and Chavez tied for the No. 10 spot at 3-over par. Carlson and John Catlin finished in the Top 20.
The Lobos’ fall season was a good one. It showed the potential of a team with limited depth, but that talent and that depth needed to produce some brilliant moments and a lot of consistency.
The brilliancy hit the Lobos Feb. 19 in the final round of the John Burns Intercollegiate held in Hawaii. How good were the Lobos in that shiny moment? Well, how about a round that made school history?
The Lobos rolled out a UNM record 268 in the final round. It was a record low score on the books at 268. It also was a record for an under-par round at 20-under. That final-day charge allowed UNM to finish fourth at 12-under in an impressive field.
“That was a highlight of the season,” said Millican. “That was one of those bright spots. It was an unbelievable round. You know you aren’t going to repeat a round like that time and again in the season, but I thought it would get us going and keep us in the direction we wanted to go.”
Of course, that direction was “up,” — like in up the leader board. The Lobos tied for sixth place at the Fresno State Classic, using another strong finish to pull out of the No. 10 hole. UNM shot a 3-over 363 in the final round. That mark pales in comparison with the 268 the Lobos threw out in Hawaii, but San Diego State won the event posting a 362 on the final day. Pacific, the runner-up, shot 368 over the final 18 holes.
“In the spring, we never really pieced it all together at the same time,” said Ross. “We’d shoot ourselves in the foot in the opening round and then scramble like crazy to get back into the tournament.”
The Lobos’ pattern of coming out slow and finishing strong was not yet over.
The New Mexico season ended at the Mountain West Conference Championships . The Lobos entered the tournament as a team that knew its potential, but also as a team that had been plagued by inconsistent play most of the season. UNM entered the MWC race coming off a 10th-place finish at the Aggie Invitational in Bryan, Texas.
Ross was coming off a tough finish, too. He finished 44th in Bryan with a 232 and with a card blemished by rounds of 79 and 80. So, how would UNM’s top golfer fare at the MWC race?
The consistency Millican tried to squeeze out of his Lobos all season did not materialize at the MWC run in Tucson, Ariz. The Lobos made another patented final-round charge to tie for the tourney’s best round at 283. UNM was pretty sharp the round before by carding a 284. They were hurt by their opening round of 291. UNM finished in fifth place, only 11 strokes behind San Diego State’s championship card.
“The last two rounds we played as good as anybody in the tournament,” said Millican. “But you have to play all three rounds and we didn’t do what we needed to do in round one.”
However, there was both consistency and outstanding golf coming out of Ross’ clubs. The senior ended his 54 holes tied with UNLV’s Derek Ernst and Ryan Peterson of Colorado State. The trio marched into sudden death with Ernst pulling out the title on the third hole of extra play. Ernst had bogeyed the 18th hole in regulation to allow the Lobo and the Ram to catch him. Ross also bogeyed 18. Ernst birded the third playoff hole to get the win.
“Travis had a great week,” said Millican. “It was fun watching him compete for the individual title.”
Millican got to watch his senior one more time in 2011. Ross was named to the All-MWC team, the only Lobo on the 10-person squad. The honor came less than 24 hours after he was named as an individual golfer in the NCAA Regional to be held in San Diego.
“That’s a big honor for Travis and well deserved,” said Millican. “He had a solid year and capped it off with a great tournament at the Mountain West Championships.”
To advance to the NCAA finals out of the San Diego Regional, Ross needed to finish first among the 10 players who came to the meet with individual invites. He finished 12 shots behind Nick Delio of Cal-State Northridge. Ross said he hit the ball well in San Diego, but did not putt well. The senior closed his UNM career with a 73.07 scoring average over 82 rounds. It was the sixth-best career average in UNM history. His average was 72.8 in 2010-11.
“Individually, I was pleased with the way the season went,” said Ross. “I wanted to be playing my best golf at the end of the season, which I pretty much was able to do. Being named all conference was a great honor and one of my goals coming into the season.”
Millican loses three solid seniors in Ross, Chavez and Carlson, but those holes will be filled by some transfers who sat out in 2010-11 and by three promising freshmen-to-be.
“We’ll be deeper next year and it will be harder to make the lineup next year,” said Millican. “That competition should make us a better team.