Nov. 1, 2011
Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Final Results 
DALLAS — The University of New Mexico men’s golf team was good on Tuesday, just not good enough to catch the leaders at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.
The Lobos carded a 2-under 282 to finish in fifth place at even-par during the event, 22 strokes behind champion Texas A&M. The Aggies shot a final round 279 to finish with the three-day total of 830.
“Any time you move up in the standings on the final day, it’s a real good day for you,” Lobo coach Glen Millican said. “We played really well the first and third rounds. We’d like to have a chance to play the second round over again. We know we’re better than that.”
UNM’s second-round 290 was 17 shots off Texas A&M’s 273 that knocked the Lobos out of contention.
Duke surged on Tuesday with a low round of 11-under 273 to finish one stroke off the pace. Oklahoma (7-under 845) was third, followed by 2010 national champion Augusta State (4-under 848).
Lobo junior John Catlin made his own surge during third-round play Tuesday, shooting a 4-under 67 to finish in a tie with Duke’s Austin Cody for seventh place at 5-under 208 for the tournament. Catlin started the day tied for 15th.
Lamar’s Daffue won the event by three strokes over a trio of players with an 11-under 202.
Junior James Erkenback shot a 3-under 68 to move up from a 34th-place tie to finish tied for 19th at 1 under.
“John and James really led us,” Millican said. “It was good to see them end the fall on such a positive note.”
Freshman Victor Perez finished tied for 26 at 2 over, while fellow freshman Gavin Green tied for 43rd at 5 over. Junior Benjamin Bauch stayed tied for 63rd with a final-round 75 to finish at 11 over par.
The Lobos had three top-five finishes in their five fall events. They resume play in late January at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson.
“The fall’s been great for us, especially the freshmen,” Millican said. “For Gavin and Victor, they’ve been in situations where we’ve been in contention to win, and that’s going to help them in the spring.”