Lobos Selected for NCAA West Lafayette Regional
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s golf team was selected to participate in the NCAA West Lafayette Regional, as the NCAA announced the regional fields on Wednesday. The tournament will be held May 13-15 at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on the campus of Purdue University.
The Lobos are making their 31st NCAA Regional appearance since the format was adopted in 1989, having advanced to the NCAA Championships 19 times. UNM finished fourth last year while competing at the Salem Regional in South Carolina to advance to the NCAA Championships, their 43rd overall NCAA Championship appearance.
New Mexico, ranked No. 23 nationally, is the No. 4 seed in the West Lafayette Regional. The 13 teams in the field are Vanderbilt, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, Purdue, San Diego State, Mississippi State, Indiana, Charleston, Stetson, Colorado State, Southern Illinois and Tennessee Tech. The top five teams at the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, held May 24-29 in Carlsbad, Calif. The top individual (not on advancing teams) will also advance to the NCAA Championships.
“We are excited to head to Purdue for the regional,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “It’s a difficult golf course and that’s what we want. We want the toughest golf course because we believe we have one of the best teams in the country. This time of year, every regional field is stacked. At the end of the day, I’ll bet on us against anybody. It is kind of ironic that we are in the same regional as San Diego State and Colorado State, a couple of teams we battled with last week at the Mountain West Championship. We are looking forward to the challenge of getting through a regional.”
The Lobos are traveling to Purdue for a NCAA Regional for the second time, having finished fourth at the 2017 NCAA West Lafayette Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.
New Mexico has two victories among seven top-three finishes in 12 events this season. The Lobos are coming off a runner-up finish at the Mountain West Championship, having lost the title in a playoff.