March 12, 2012
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Golf – At General Hackler Championship
DeBordieu Club – Georgetown, South Carolina
GEORGETOWN, S.C. – Solid golf is good. Solid gold will get you near the top of the leaderboard and in the hunt. Sometimes you can win with solid golf.
But solid golf combined with a splash of spectacular golf is a better combination to ride to victory. The New Mexico Lobos had a lot of “solid,” but no “spectacular” Sunday or Monday in South Carolina.
The New Mexico men’s golf team, paced by Victor Perez, played solid golf in the General Hackler Championship to finish in fourth place, seven shots off the winning pace set by North Florida.
“I think we did a good job. We played solid and we had a good week,” said Lobo Coach Glen Millican. “We keep getting in position to give ourselves a chance to win, which is a sign of a team that is playing good golf.
“But we didn’t get anybody into the 60s and our next move is to get into the lead going down the stretch and hang on.”
North Florida did exactly that. The Ospreys fired the low team round of the tourney in Sunday’s second 18 (282) and held on for a two shot win over East Carolina.
The Ospreys didn’t exactly burn up the links at the DeBordieu Country Club, but they did have two golfers shoot rounds in the 60s, had two golfers in the Top 10, and had the individual champion in Sean Dale.
The Lobos were 8-over par as a team over the final 18 holes on Monday, but were unable to cut into the five-shot gap between them and North Florida going into the last day.
Perez was sitting at even par going into the final round and carded a 3-over on Monday to finish in fifth place at 216. Dale shot 2-over par on the final 18, but held on for a winning total of 212.
“Victor played well and (John) Catlin was in the Top 10 again,” said Millican. “It was a pretty tough course to get it going low. There were some long par fours and some challenging par threes.”
No. 14 North Florida was 6-over par on Monday, firing a 290 on the final 18. UNM, ranked No. 19 nationally, carded a team count of 292 on the last 18 holes for an 879 total. North Florida finished at 872.
East Carolina made the biggest move on the final day by shooting 1-over as a team and pulled into second place at 874. Arkansas, ranked No. 9, was a single shot ahead of UNM and the Razorbacks took the third spot at 878. Virginia was fifth at 886 in the 15-team tournament held at the DeBordieu Country Club in Georgetown, South Carolina.
Perez had a good chance to finish in the three-way tie for second place at 215, but had a bogey six on the final hole. That 18th hole took a bite out of two other Lobos, too, as James Erkenbeck had a double-bogey seven and Gavin Green also bogeyed the last hole.
UNM lost four strokes to par on that last hole. Erkenbeck was 1-under par going into 18.
“Eighteen was tough,” said Millican. “They moved the tees up and the wind was coming from a different direction. There were some balls going in the water and the pin was in a tough spot.”
Perez’s bid for medalist honors also were hurt on the par-4 No. 7 hole where he carded a triple-bogey seven. “He hit his tee shot out-of-bounds, but hit his third shot (off the tee) down the middle and then got on the green,” said Millican. “He then three-putted from a tough spot.
“After that triple, he was back in eighth place, but he played well and on 17, he still had a chance to win the tournament. That was a good experience for him to come back like that.”
Perez picked up birdies on No. 11 and No. 15 to go along with 13 pars. Catlin fired a 73 Monday to finish tied for seventh place at 218. He made the 9-hole turn at even par, but had two bogeys on the back nine, no birdies, and failed to make a charge.
The links of the DeBordieu were not conquered easily as there were only three rounds in the 60s turned in from the top 13 golfers – that’s three out of 39 rounds.
The Lobos will go straight from the General Hackler to Austin, Texas, to play in the Morris Williams Intercollegiate on Friday and Saturday.