Lobos In 23rd Place After First Round of NCAA Championship
CARLSBAD, Calif. –– The New Mexico men’s golf team began play Friday at the 2025 NCAA Championship with the opening round at the North Course of the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. The Lobos shot 9-over during the first round, ending the day tied for 23rd place.
Oklahoma holds the first-round lead at 8-under, five shots clear of a three-way tie for second at 3-under by Florida State, Florida and Texas. Arizona State, Auburn and Illinois all shot 2-under as just seven of the 30 teams shot under par on Friday.
Mesa Falleur led the Lobos during the opening day, shooting a 2-under 70, to finish the day T-16th on the individual leaderboard. He was 2-under after a bogey-free front nine before shooting even par on the back nine.
Clark Sonnenberg was also under par, shooting a 1-under 71 in his NCAA Championship debut to end the first round in the top 25. It was the lowest round at an NCAA Championship by a UNM freshman in 21 years, since Charlie Beljan shot 70 during the second round of the 2004 tournament in Hot Springs, Va.
Oliver Cage shot a 2-over 74, while Wyatt Provence and Carson Herron rounded out the lineup with rounds of 10-over and 12-over, respectively.
“This golf course is tough and we made it tougher with a couple of guys,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “The good thing is we had some solid rounds out there. Mesa played great at a couple under par and Clark had another great postseason round under par. Ollie was solid too, we just need to get a fourth in there, but I know those guys will bounce back tomorrow. The wind will kick up a little more tomorrow afternoon, we just need to trust our gameplan and stick with it.”
The NCAA Championship continues Saturday with the second round at La Costa. The Lobos, along with the other 14 teams that played in the morning on Friday, will play in the afternoon. The third round will be Sunday before the top 15 teams make the cut to play Monday’s final round of stroke play. The top eight teams after the fourth round will play match play Tuesday and Wednesday for the national championship.