On the heels of a successful fall campaign, during which the UNM men's golf team never finished outside the top five in tournament play, the Lobos look to knock the rust off their sticks and pick up right where they left off.
The Lobos, ranked No. 15 in the Golfweek/ Sagarin Performance Index, will travel to Tucson, Ariz. Feb. 3-4, to kick off the second half of the season in the PING Arizona Intercollegiate. The Raven Golf Club at Sabino Springs will play host to the event.
Head coach Glen Millican's arsenal of 18 talented players spent the early part of this week battling for travel-roster spots at UNM's North and South Courses. Of the five positions available, two were reserved for the players who shot the lowest three-day totals. Millican said the remaining players were chosen at his discretion.
"We've got two or three guys who are pretty consistently there, but there's a lot of flip-flopping, especially at the four and five spots," Millican said.
Senior Michael Letzig, juniors Ian Medlock and Derek Abel and sophomores Madalisto Muthiya and Jay Reynolds will represent the Lobos against 19 other teams in Tucson. David Schultz and Jeff Briggs, both sophomores, will compete as individuals.
Depth is one of the real strengths of this year's Lobo contingent, Millican said.
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"There are seven or eight who could play for us at any time," Millican said. "It's definitely nice to be interchangeable. It promotes competition and helps us to get better."
While the Lobos' depth will serve them well in the ultra-competitive arena of NCAA Division I golf, lack of experience may be the only potential weakness.
"Especially early on, we're going to have to rely on three or four guys who haven't played a whole lot of competitive rounds for us," Millican said.
Golf is an unpredictable animal at best, a concept not lost on Millican, who was hesitant to make any broad predictions concerning the week in, week out business of his team's upcoming run at another national championship appearance.
"You can't say that your goal is to win every single time out. You can't control what the other teams do. If you do your best and somebody plays better, well...," Millican said. "Our goal is just to be prepared and to give ourselves a chance to win with one day to go."
With a four-month hiatus from tournament action and Winter Break behind them, Millican said the players are "fairly ready."
"They're maybe a little rusty, which is to be expected," he said. "Some guys are struggling, but the rest of them have been playing OK in qualifying."
Letzig, who will play number one for UNM next week, had a win and a second place finish in the first two events of the 2002-03 season. After taking a couple months off, he is confident in his game, but echoed Millican's thoughts on rust.
"This time of year, chipping and putting are the most important things. Especially when everybody's games are a little rusty," Letzig said.
Medlock and Briggs attribute their recent good play to hot putters. Briggs needed only 25 putts in each of the first two qualifying rounds, carding scores of 71-68. Medlock fired the low single round of the three days, scorching the North Course with a 65.
Abel, who recently transferred to UNM from Baylor University, listed the great practice facilities at the South Course and Millican's positive attitude as reasons for the switch.
Reynolds is coming off a back injury that sidelined him for part of the fall and winter.
Following the Tucson event, the Lobos head to Honolulu, Hawaii, Feb. 19-21, for the John Burns Invitational.
