Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Top-Five Team Results
1. Oklahoma State 356-368-356=1080, +15; 2. 2 Baylor 356-370-355=1081, +16; 3. Oklahoma 366-364-354=1084, +19; 4. Houston 367-371-358=1096, +31; 5. New Mexico 367-369-363=1099, +34.
Individual Top Five
1. Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen, Baylor 66-70-71=207, -6; 2. Guillermo Pereira, Texas Tech 68-71-69=208, -5; 3. Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State 68-77-64=209, -4; T4. Jose Mendez, Minnesota 73-68-70=211, -2; T4 Max McGreevy, Oklahoma 73-70-68=211, -2.
Lobo Finishers
T13 Sam Saunders 72-73-72=217, +4; T16 Gavin Green 75-73-71=219, +6; T24 Andre Garcia 74-77-71=222, +9; T28 Andrej Bevins 76-73-74=223, +10; T28 Joseph Abella 72-76-75=223, +10; T44 Victor Perez 74-74-78=226, +13.
In Dallas, Texas, the 20th-ranked University of New Mexico men’s golf team shaved six strokes off its second-round score in Tuesday’s final round of the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate but dropped a spot to a fifth-place finish in the 12-team tournament.
It was the final event of the fall season for UNM.
The Lobos finished at 34-over 1,099 (367-369-363) during the event with a format of six players per team with the five low scores counting toward each round. They finished 19 strokes behind winner and 43rd-ranked Oklahoma State (356-368-356=1,080, +15). No. 10 Baylor (356-370-355=1,081) was second, just one stroke behind the Cowboys.
No. 21 Oklahoma finished third (366-364-354=1,084) at 19 over, followed by No. 28 Houston (367-371-358=1096, +31) and New Mexico.
Senior Sam Saunders had the low score individually for the Lobos, finishing at 4-over 217 (72-73-72). Fellow senior Gavin Green tied for 16th at 6-over 219 (75-73-71). He and redshirt freshman Andre Garcia (74-77-71=22, +9) shot par for the final round. Garcia finished tied for 24th in his first event on the Lobo team.
Sophomore Andrej Bevins (76-73-74=223) and junior Joe Abella (72-76-75=223) tied for 28th at 10 over and senior Victor Perez (74-74-78=226) tied for 44th at 13 over.
Andre, Joe and Andrej all had a really good week,” Lobo coach Glen Millican said. “Andre getting par today was a very good score.”
The Lobos now are off as a team until the Arizona Intercollegiate at the end of January to tee off the spring season.
Millican said a few Lobos will play in tournaments individually. Green will play in the Sun Bowl Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic later this fall. But the team still about three weeks together to work on their games before they gather as a team.
“This is a really valuable time because are players can work on their swings or their short games, or whatever technical tinkering they need,” Millican said. “And they need to grind in school now that their home, so that will be good.”
Millican said he thought the Lobos played fairly well in the fall but certainly have room for improvement.
“We had some good finishes, but we certainly could’ve played better,” Millican said. “We probably played our best during the first day of the (William Tucker Intercollegiate, UNM’s home tournament that the Lobos won by 15 strokes). I still think we’re better than we played in the fall.”
Green’s 16th place finish in Dallas was his lowest in the fall, and Millican lauded his performance. He won the Tucker and had top-10 finishes in his other four events.
Millican said the key for the Lobos to have a successful spring is to get that consistency from his other players.
“We had different guys play good rounds at different times,” he said. “Other than the Tucker, I don’t think we had all of our guys play well at the same time.”