University of New Mexico Men’s Golf
Up Next: The Husky Invitational
Host: University of Washington
Dates: Sept. 22-23
Course: Gold Mountain Golf Club, Independence, Minnesota
Lobos in the field: Andrej Bevins, Nelson da Silva Ramos, Gavin Green, Victor Perez, Sam Saunders; individuals competing: Joe Abella, Andre Garcia, Mitch Johnson
Live scoring: birdiefire.com
This week, the University of New Mexico men’s golf team has a chance to do something that hasn’t been done in 45 yards. Senior Gavin Green has a chance to do something that’s never happened before. But first. …
The Lobos are in Bremerton, Washington, where they will participate in the Husky Invitational. The University of Washington will serve as host in the two-day, 54-hole event Monday-Tuesday at the Gold Mountain Golf Club.
The team will return home on Wednesday morning and begin to prepare for to host the 60th annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on Friday and Saturday at the UNM Championship Course.
The tournament host is seeking its third straight Tucker team trophy, which would be the first time the same program as won the Tucker three straight years since the University of Houston did it from 1968-70.
Green is the two-time defending individual champion at the Tucker and has a chance to become the first player in history to win three titles at the event.
Despite the hectic schedule, the Lobos have proven to be pretty adept in managing their time well.
Playing a tournament on the same week as the Tucker “is something we’ve done the last few years,” UNM coach Glen Millican says. “The Lobo women host the McGuire the week before us, and so we need to give the (Championship) course a chance to recover.
“It’s worked out pretty well for us to be on the road. By the time we get back home for the Tucker, we’ll pretty well into tournament mode.”
New Mexico will be at full strength with the return of senior Victor Perez to the lineup. He missed the first tournament of his Lobo career at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 8-9 to prepare with the French national team for the World Amateur Team Championship in Japan from Sept. 11-14.
There, he finished tied for second at the 200-player, 67-country event with a 20-under par 266.
The Lobos managed a fifth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational without him. Green, who also played in the World Amateur Team Championship for Malaysia, elected to play with UNM, then take a 13-hour flight from Minneapolis to Japan and play the next day.
He finished tied for 22nd at the event at 11 under.
Senior Nelson da Silva Ramos has played his way into the Lobo lineup and will be part of the team at the Husky Invitational. Senior Sam Saunders and sophomore Andre Bevins complete the roster. Junior Joe Abella, sophomore Mitch Johnson and redshirt freshman Andre Garcia will compete as individuals in Washington.
“I certainly feel we have as deep a team as we’ve had in a long time,” Millican said. “It’s going to be hard to replace Gavin, Victor or Sam in the lineup, but we’ve got six other players that can vie for the other two spots.
“Hopefully, the competition will make us all better.”