In Lihu’e, Hawaii, the 27th-ranked University of New Mexico men’s golf team proved – for at least one round – that it isn’t just a fair-weather team.
With wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour at the Wailua Golf Course – and with senior Gavin Green struggling – the Lobos still shot a second-round best, 5-under 283 to move into a second-place tie at the John Burns Intercollegiate.
Lobo sophomore Andre Bevins finds himself in an even better position, tied for the lead after his 4-under 68 on Thursday. He had the only round in the 60s among the 94 competitors.
UNM (295-283=578) was eight strokes better than any other team on the course and sits tied with Mountain West rival and 24th-ranked UNLV (287-291). The two teams trail leader and 25th-ranked California (282-291=573, -3) by five strokes. Texas A&M (288-293=581) is fourth at 5 over and No. 19 Virginia (291-301) is fifth at 16-over 592.
“After the first round, we talked about the weather,” Lobo coach Glen Millican said, “so we were prepared for it, but you’ve still got to play well. A good round will take you further when there’s bad weather, and we were able to put a good round together.”
Bevins mixed five birdies with one bogey for his round and has had eight birdies and two bogeys through 36 holes (70-68-138, -6). He is tied with Arizona’s George Cunningham for the lead.
“Andrej hasn’t done anything spectacular; he’s just made really good decisions through the first two rounds,” Millican said. “A 68 in the conditions that he played in today was impressive.”
Senior Victor Perez was among those with the next best round with a 2-under 70 on Thursday. He’s tied for ninth at 1-over 145 (75-70).
Perez stayed out of the trouble he had during his first round when he had five bogeys and a double-bogey.
Freshman Gustavo Morantes posted an even-par 72 and tied for 17th at 3-over 147 (75-72). Senior Sam Saunders shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday, which also was three strokes better than his opening round. He is tied for 27th at 5-over 149 (76-73).
Green shot a 5-over 77 and is tied for 45th at 8-over 152 (77-75). While one hole got him in the first round, he had three consecutive double-bogeys that wiped away what had been a 2-under round.
“It was kind of the same thing as yesterday,” Millican said. “Just the wrong shots at the wrong times, and it cost him. But he settled down and finished the round. We all know he’s capable of shooting a low score tomorrow.”
Senior Sean Romero, competing as an individual, also finished with a 5-over 77 in the second round and is tied for 39th at 7-over 151 (74-77).
Millican, however, said he wanted to see more of his players score well at the same time, and that’s what happened – even with Green’s second round.
“It wasn’t that we had our best guy shoot a 65; it was just the opposite,” Millican said. “Victor had a great bounce-back round, and Gustavo’s round was big for us,” Millican said. “On a day that Gavin struggled, for our freshman to go out and shoot par was great timing.”
“I’m encouraged by the fact that the other guys all put together really good rounds. It’s nice to see Bevins and Gustavo, our young guys, get low scores. It gives us a great chance to have the kind of finish we want to have tomorrow.”
Friday’s final round begins at 11:30 a.m. Mountain Time with a shotgun start. The Lobos will play with Cal, UNLV and Texas A&M in the final round.
Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.