ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s golf team is looking to rewrite the history books once again this Friday and Saturday at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.
This year’s William H. Tucker field includes five ranked teams in the most recent GolfWeek poll. The sixteen team field includes Arizona, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Diego State, UTEP, UNLV, Washington, Washington State and is rounded out by Wyoming.
“This group of teams provide representation across several conferences and promises to provide spectators with a great example of how good college golfers are. The course should provide a nice test and is in excellent championship condition,” opened UNM head coach Glen Millican.
Five of last year’s top-10 finishers return to the field this year. Lead by UNLV and Colorado State, the pair that finished at 4-over 868 and laid co-claim to third place.
The Lobos return home as four-time consecutive champions of the William H. Tucker Invitational. After last week’s fifth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational, the team hopes to continue building on the momentum gained in Minnesota earlier this month.
The fifth-place performance in Minnesota allowed us to learn two things about this year’s Lobos. First, the Lobos are capable of playing excellent golf as displayed by last week’s rally. Secondly, the Lobo’s have the talent needed to be great consistently.
At the Gopher, UNM had 174 total pars, three off the most in the field and tallied 33 birdies which was the sixth most in the field. The team managed to shave off 21 strokes in comparison to 2015.
Statistically the Lobos were helped along by the team’s 3.18 par-3 and 4.21 par-4 scoring averages, both of which landed inside the field’s top-5.
“We certainly appreciate the opportunity to host this weekend. Being our 62nd annual Tucker is an example of how special this event is,” stated Millican. “It has been great to host such a great field of teams each and every year, with 2016 being as good as we’ve seen.”
After last year’s record setting performance, in which the Lobos laid claim to the lowest team scores of the tournament both days, one thing became clear; when the conditions are tough, the advantage of playing at your home course is undeniable.
Strong, consistent play across the board allowed the Lobos to post a mark of 24-under 840 (279-276-285), running away run away with the team title by a record-setting 19 strokes.
Eventual champion Andrej Bevins pieced together a round of 2-under in the final round, all but sealed a Lobo victory with an eagle on the par-5 18th on his way to completing the Tucker with a three day total of 10-under 206 (68-68-70).
The team’s four consecutive victories at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate matches a record previously held by the University of Houston, for 49 years. UNM, the winningest program in the Tucker’s history, are in position to move into sole possession of the record for most consecutive victories at the Tucker with five. This would break the record held by the University of Houston since 1967.
Play is set to kick off at 7:30 both days, with live scoring being provided via GolfStat here.