Lobos in Second Place After First Day of the Tucker Intercollegiate

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –– The New Mexico men’s golf team used a strong second round to finish the opening day of the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in second place. In their lone home event of the year at the UNM Championship Course, the Lobos are at 12-under going into Saturday’s final round.

After shooting 2-over in the first round, the Lobos shot the low round of the day, 14-under, in the second round to climb into second place. They are five strokes back of San Diego State, who holed the 36-hole lead at 17-under. TCU is third at 10-under, while UNLV is the only other team in the 19-school field under par through two rounds at 5-under.

Albert Boneta is tied for second place on the individual leaderboard at 7-under, one shot off the lead. After shooting even par in round one, he shot a 7-under bogey-free 65 in the second round, tying his collegiate career low. Brandon Shong shot a second-round 67 to finish the day T-11th place individually at 3-under. Bastien Amat is even par through 36 holes, Carson Herron and Matthew Watkins are each 2-over. Three Lobos are playing the tournament as individuals with Virgilio Paz at 2-over, Alvaro Portillo at 6-over and Connor Adams at 7-over.

“It was a really good day for our team,” said head coach Glen Millican. “Our guys got off to a good start, then fell victim to some of the tougher holes, but hung in there really well. We had an OK first round, which meant that a really good second round was that much more valuable. They did an awesome job of getting themselves into contention heading into tomorrow. It is always great when you have a round with a 65 and a 67, so a lot of credit to Albert and Brandon for how they played this afternoon. We are looking forward to tomorrow.”

The Tucker Intercollegiate concludes Saturday with the final round at the UNM Championship Course. Play starts with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start and admission is free.