Oct. 30, 2011
DALLAS — The University of New Mexico men’s golf team is aiming to complete a Texas two-step.
The Lobos, coming off their victory at the Lone Star Invitational on Oct. 16-18 in San Antonio, Texas, will travel to Dallas on Monday to compete in the two-day Royal Oaks Invitational at the Royal Oaks Country Club.
UNM coach Glen Millican is hoping the success the team enjoyed in San Antonio will have an effect up the road some 275 miles on Interstate 35.
“The (Lone Star) was a good win for us because we basically did it over three different golf courses,” Millican said. “Going into the last round with only a four-shot lead, which is really not very much in team golf, and then to struggle through some tough weather and get the win – it shows our guys what they’re capable of doing against good teams in different conditions.
“It gives them a good attitude about this week’s tournament.”
UNM, ranked 19th in the latest Golfweek rankings and 14th by Golfstat.com, will be the highest-rated squad in on a 14-team dance card in Dallas that includes eight of the top 50 programs in the country.
Baylor (Golfweek’s No. 24 team) and Duke (No. 25) also will vie for the title, along with top-50 schools Iowa, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, SMU, Texas A&M and Tulsa. The tournament features the last two Division I national champions in Texas A&M (2009) and Augusta State (2010).
“Any time you play against teams that have had the success Texas A&M and Augusta State have had, it’s a good opportunity. If we play well and a get a chance to beat those guys, it’ll be a good win for us.”
Junior John Catlin has been the Lobos’ resident swing king in the fall with a 31st national ranking on the Golfweek individual list. He’lll compete along with four other top-50 players in Iowa’s Barrett Kelpin (No. 39), Notre Dame’s Max Scodro (No. 43), Lamar’s Kevin Hesbois (No. 48) and Baylor’s Joakim Mikkelsen (No. 49).
“John’s playing a little bit more consistently than he was last year,” Millican said. “Wedge game’s probably a little bit better than it was last year. He’s gotten better at hitting more shots; he’s not just relying on one shot all the time.”
The Lobo team headed for Dallas includes Catlin, fellow juniors James Erkenbeck and Benjamin Bauch and freshmen Gavin Green and Victor Perez.
The event is the last of UNM’s fall season. Millican’s squad hopes to cap a strong fall season – one win, two second-place finishes and one fourth – with one final impressive tango through Texas.
“We started out strong last fall, and then the last two events of the fall we really struggled,” Millican said. “I feel like we’ve played better this fall than we did last year. I feel like we’ve got good balance. We would like to play well in Dallas and finish this fall off on a good note.”
The team will reopen its season in 2012 at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson from Jan. 30-31.