SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. – The No. 22 New Mexico men’s golf team closed out play at the NB3 Matchplay at Twin Warriors on Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over rival New Mexico State.
The Lobos finished the event in second place with eight points, posting 3-2 wins over Oregon and New Mexico State after falling 3-2 to UNLV. The Rebels won the event with nine points, while New Mexico State had seven points and Oregon had six. Every match of the event was settled by a 3-2 score.
In Wednesday’s win, the Lobos got an early lead as Mesa Falleur finished a 5&4 victory. The other four matches all came down to the final hole. The Aggies drew even with a 1up victory over Wyatt Provence before Emil Albers halved his match to keep the score tied at 1.5-1.5. Johnnie Clark never led in his match, but won the last hole to halve his match and keep the score tied, 2-2. In the final match, Thayer Plewe took a 1-up lead with a birdie on No. 17 and closed out the 1-up victory on the last. Plewe was the only Lobo to win all three of his matches during the event.
“In sports, you have rivalries and we want to go out there and own the state,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “We had a bitter taste in our mouth last year when they beat us here at the end, so it was nice to return the favor today. Mesa is a horse and we sent him out there and told him to play like he did when he won in Chicago last week, and he did so. Thayer, as a freshman, backed it up this week. It was getting tight and he hit a huge putt on 17 to go up and then had the up-and-down on 18 to finish it off. Emil and Johnnie made some big shots down the stretch to get us half points. It was a total team effort all week.”
The Lobos will wrap up their fall schedule Oct. 27-28 with The Clerico in Tulsa, Okla. The tournament will be played at Southern Hills Country Club, a course that has hosted nine major championships, most recently the 2022 PGA Championship.
No. 22 NEW MEXICO 3, NEW MEXICO STATE 2
Mesa Falleur (UNM) def. Anthony Lara (NMSU) 5&4
Emil Albers (UNM) vs. Max Chan (NMSU) halved
Ethan Klose (NMSU) def. Wyatt Provence (UNM) 1up
Johnnie Clark (UNM) vs. Javier Delgadillo (NMSU) halved
Thayer Plewe (UNM) def. Mateo Payan (NMSU) 1up
Lobos Post 3-2 Win Over New Mexico State at NB3 Matchplay
