It was a bittersweet week for the UNM men's golf team.
The Lobos placed sixth at the National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course. UNM finished the three-round tournament 16-under par, 10 strokes from first place.
The Lobos finished the first round tied for third place but fell to seventh place after a shaky second round.
Junior Spencer Levin finished unusually high after shooting over par in the second round. Levin finished the tournament tied for 31st place at 1-under par.
Senior Jay Reynolds went into the third round tied for 15th place. Reynolds shot 13-over par in the final round, slipping to 70th place.
"We didn't have one guy play as good as he can," head coach Glen Millican said. "We still had four guys have a solid tournament."
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Senior Madalitso Muthiya led the Lobos, tying for 12th place at 5-under par.
Head coach Glen Millican said he thought the team was capable of winning the tournament, but placing sixth out of 14 teams was a pretty good showing for UNM.
"We didn't play very bad," Millican said. "We just didn't play our best. We are as good or better than any team there. We just didn't play as well."
This week the UNM men's golf team is ranked fourth in the nation in the Golf Coaches Association of America poll and fifth in the Golf Week Poll.
The Lobos opened the spring season with two championships. They went on to finish 10th in the Southern Highlands Collegiate, competing against 15 teams ranked in the top 25. The Lobos took third place in the Hall of Fame invitational March 18-20.
Junior Spencer Levin is a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award, named the most prestigious award in college golf by Golf Week magazine. The award is given to the top collegiate golfer based on competitions over the past year.
The team has played in four tournaments in the past five weeks. The Lobos have a break until the Aggie Invitational on April 16.
Millican said he is encouraging all the players to take four or five days off from playing to catch up in school and recharge.
"We have played a lot of great golf," Millican said. "We have just been playing a lot of golf, and that can wear you out."
Millican said the team will continue to work on ball striking until the Aggie Invitational. He said the team will focus on better wedge shots and better putting.
Following the Aggie Invitational, the Lobos will go to the conference tournament and then to the western regional where they will have the opportunity to qualify for nationals.
"If the team takes better advantage of scoring opportunities, we can be very competitive in the end of the season," Millican said.
