Playing golf during Minnesota’s bitter-cold winters is a task.
Just ask UNM golfer Travis Ross.
First, you have to layer with warm clothes. Don’t forget those winter gloves and hat. The thing is Ross doesn’t have to worry about wearing an extra pair of socks out to the driving range anymore.
This winter, Ross played his first round of 18 in New Mexico.
“I mean, I love Minnesota,” Ross said. “It was hard growing up, because you really can’t play over the winter. You don’t have as much time to work on your game.”
Motivated to play the game he loves, Ross transferred from a junior college in the Land of 10,000 Lakes — St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn. — to UNM and joined the Lobo men’s golf team. He joined the Lobos in 2008 and sat out a year due to NCAA transfer rules. In his first full year as a member of the team, Ross has already sunk a hole-in-one among other things.
UNM head men’s golf coach Glen Millican said it’s been a pleasure to watch Ross play and see him transform into one of the best players on the team.
“He has put together a really strong spring semester for us,” Millican said. “He has had a solid year all season long, but, as of lately, he has played great in some tournaments for us.”
However, Ross said he’s struggled during his first semester at UNM. He said he finally started to feel like he established a rhythm during a spring break tournament in Las Vegas.
“For two weeks, I played really well in three tournaments,” Ross said.
At the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, a match play event, Ross notched a fourth-place finish, with a 5-over for the tournament. And, on the final day of competition, he shot a 73, or one-over-par.
It was the second consecutive day that Ross carded a 73. He tallied a 75, 73 and 73 during the three rounds of play.
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“That was a pretty nice little trip where we got it rolling,” Ross said. “I finally started to play well for the first time all year. It was pretty awesome to win that match play. But other than that, I hadn’t played well in any tournament.”
Ross witnessed a change in his game because he is headstrong, he said. Golfers who stay mentally positive separate themselves from the great and mediocre players.
“You can hit some bad shots, but sometimes you can still salvage a good score at the end of the day,” Ross said. “I always think that the good players can hit around those bad shots and end up hitting the ball well.”
Millican said that Ross’ strength is his confidence.
“Travis has great composure on the golf course,” Millican said. “He is very patient, but, at the same time, he is extremely competitive. He is a guy who plays well and is not afraid to keep playing well, and he doesn’t get nervous.”
And Ross will need to keep his nerves bottled up for Thursday, when UNM heads to Tucson, Ariz., for the Mountain West Conference Men’s Golf Championship.
As it stands, the Lobos will look to defend their crown as reining tournament champs.
Ross said that the course should play to the Lobos’ advantage, even though he has only played on Tucson’s course once.
“A lot of our guys have played a lot of rounds there,” Ross said. “I feel like everyone has played there a ton. I am probably the only one who has played the least there, but the one tournament I played there I played well. I feel that we have a good opportunity if we can all play together.”
