Lobos Tied for Third Through Round 1 of NCAA Regional
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s golf team sits tied for third place overall Monday at four-under par through round one of the 2021 NCAA Southwest Regional. Two freshmen, Matthew Watkins and MW Freshman of the Year Bastien Amat, lead the Lobos tying for ninth overall in the field.
The top five teams through all three rounds advance past regional competition as well as the top individual. New Mexico will tee off round two on Tuesday, followed by round three on Wednesday.
No. 41 Oregon State leads all teams (281, -7), followed by No. 22 Texas Tech (283, -5). No. 29 New Mexico is tied with No. 14 Texas A&M (284, -4), followed by South Carolina (285, -3).
Watkins and Amat tied for ninth overall carding a 70 (-2). Watkins registered four birdies, tied for the team lead with junior Sam Choi, while Amat posted a pair of birdies to go along with an eagle on the par-5 hole #1.
Amat, after teeing off on hole #10, finished the back nine even, but followed the turn with his eagle on hole #1 and a birdie on hole #3 to slip to three-under. A bogey on hole #5 put him back at -2 and he finished out the round with pars on the remaining holes.
The freshman duo was followed by junior Sam Choi who finished round one just one shot behind at one-under, 70. Choi, who is currently ranked No. 23 in the nation as an individual, posted four birdies but balanced them out with three bogeys.
Junior Brandon Shong tied for 33rd overall (73, +1) followed by sophomore Albert Boneta who rounded out the Lobo lineup with a 75 (+3).
As a team, the Lobos lead the field in par-3 scoring (3.00, E) and tie for third overall in eagles with one. UNM is also tied for second in pars with 57 on the day.
New Mexico is set to tee off on Tuesday morning in round two at 7:30 a.m. MT.