Lobos Set School Records in National Invitational Tournament Victory
TUCSON, Ariz. –– The New Mexico men’s golf team captured its second victory of the season with a record-setting performance at the National Invitational Tournament. The Lobos shot a school-record 51-under to win at OMNI Tucson National over an elite field that included 11 teams in the top-60 nationally.
After darkness halted play on Monday, the Lobos concluded the second round on Tuesday morning by finishing a school-record round of 265. It broke the previous single-round record of 268 set during the second round of this fall’s Alister MacKenzie Invitational in California. UNM capped the tournament with a final round 275 to finish at 51-under, breaking the Lobos’ previous scoring record of 42-under set last spring at the NCAA Salem Regional.
The Lobos’ 51-under total gave them a one-shot victory over No. 16 and host Arizona. Sixth-ranked Arizona State was third at 49-under, while BYU (42-under) and Missouri (34-under) rounded out the top five of the 18-team field.
“It was a great win for our program and I am so proud of the guys,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “This is always one of the best fields in college golf, and this year’s field was as good, if not stronger, than a NCAA regional field. To win against so many strong teams is a great way to start the semester. Any time you can break a record at a place with as much history as New Mexico, it is a tremendous accomplishment. Our team came out from the start, played confident golf and finished strong to hold off Arizona and Arizona State as they made their late charge.”
Bastien Amat was the Lobos’ top finisher, shooting 66-67-67 for a T-3rd finish. Carson Herron also shot three rounds in the 60s for a top-10 finish, going 69-68-67 to finish T-9th at 12-under. Alvaro Portillo had his first collegiate top-10 finish, also tying for ninth at 12-under after rounds of 69-65-70. Matthew Watkins was T-15th at 11-under while Albert Boneta rounded out the lineup with a T-33rd finish at 6-under.
The Lobos have three top-two finishes in five events this season. New Mexico won the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in September on its home course and finished runner-up in its fall finale at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in California in October.
New Mexico will return to action Feb. 15-17 with the John Burns Intercollegiate, hosted by Hawaii on the island of Kauai.