Falleur Earns Top Five in Lobo Debut at Gopher Invitational

MAPLE PLAIN, Minn. –– The New Mexico men’s golf team completed its season-opening event on Monday with the final round of the Gopher Invitational. The Lobos shot 6-over during the final 18 holes at Windsong Farm Golf Club to finish in ninth place at 24-over.

Iowa State won the event with a total of 8-over, two shots ahead of host Minnesota (10-over). Nebraska (13-over), Iowa (16-over) and Rutgers (17-over) rounded out the top five.

Mesa Falleur earned a top-five finish in his Lobo debut, finishing T-5th at 1-under. The 2024 Summit League Player of the Year at Kansas City shot 72-70-70 on the par-71 loop to lead UNM at the event.

Alvaro Portillo finished at 3-over for the tournament after a final round 72 on Monday. Wyatt Provence and Carson Herron each finished at 13-over, while Clark Sonnenberg shot 15-over in his collegiate debut.

“Mesa showed a lot of consistency this week, finishing T-5th at 1-under,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “He proved why he will be one of the best newcomers in the Mountain West this season. Alvaro had another solid round today as well. However, we have a lot of work that we need to do as a team before we host the Tucker in a couple weeks. We really need to clean up self-inflicted mistakes, like three-putts, if we are going to accomplish our goals this season. With that being said, like I told the team after the round, I am glad this is the first tournament of the year and not the last one. We will learn from this, grow as a team and be a lot better the next time we tee it up.”

The Lobos will return to action as a team Sept. 20-21 when they host the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the UNM Championship Course. New Mexico will be looking to defend its title after winning its home event last fall.