The UNM men’s golf team is getting into the swing of things.
The team, currently ranked No. 15 in the nation, won the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio, Texas last weekend by eight strokes.
Head coach Glen Millican said the success of the team can be attributed to multiple players consistently performing well.
“Our guys have been prepared and they’ve played well,” he said.
“We have at least four guys play well in every round that we’ve played.”
Junior John Catlin is one of those players. He said that freshmen such as Victor Perez, a native of France, are a big part of the team’s success.
“We’re all just playing really good so far,” he said. “We have some good freshman in and they’re off to a really good start.”
Catlin and fellow junior James Erkenbeck have been the most successful this year, Millican said.
“John Catlin and James Erkenbeck as juniors have really come out and played well to start the season,” he said. “They’ve been the best players on our team in every tournament so far.”
Catlin shot four under par to finish third in the Lone Star Invitational, while Erkenbeck shot three over par to finish 17th. Perez finished ninth, shooting one over par.
UNM has two second-place finishes under its belt this season as well.
Earlier this season, the Lobos finished second in the Mark Simpson Invitational, five strokes behind hosts Colorado. Their other second-place finish was in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, where they finished one stroke behind UNLV.
The Lobos will need to gain as much experience as possible with these early-season tournaments before they open up conference play.
“Our conference is always deep in golf, especially UNLV and San Diego State,” Millican said.
San Diego State was ranked 14th at the beginning of the season.
Catlin said he is particularly excited to compete against Texas A&M this year.
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“Texas A&M has always been one of our big rivals,” he said. “Our old assistant coach went to A&M, so we kind of have some mixed emotions with them. We beat them at our last tournament, so that was good.”
The Aggies finished second behind the Lobos in the Lone Star Invitational.
Catlin said he hopes to continue playing well so he can qualify for the NCAA championship in May.
“It would be great to go to the national championship,” he said. “That’s the one I want to qualify for the most.”
The Lobos have just one more tournament in the fall season, the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas, which begins on Halloween.
They tee off their spring season with the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate on Jan. 30 in Tucson, Ariz.
The Lobos have six more tournaments on the road after that event, then go to the Mountain West Championship on May 4, which also takes place in Tucson.
