For the men’s golf team, it has been a successful season to say the least.
The Lobos are ranked No. 16 in the nation by GolfWeekRankings.com, and have finished in the top five in every tournament so far this year.
Freshman Victor Perez, who finished in the top 10 in several tournaments, said being ranked one of the top teams in the country shows what the team is accomplished.
“We have a very good team and if everyone plays good, we are a hard team to beat,” Perez said.
The latest top five attainments for the Lobos came on April 7 when UNM tied for second with San Diego State University at the ASU/Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
Head coach Glen Millican said everyone on the team buoyed the Lobos to the ranking and he is proud to see other players step up every tournament.
“It’s been great watching different guys play well and contribute each and every event,” Millican said. “We’ve had some young guys have good years and a couple juniors have played very well at the top.”
One of the top performers, junior John Catlin, has an individual tournament win that came at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz., along with several top-five finishes.
Catlin said one of the reasons for the Lobos’ success is the play of the freshmen like Perez.
“It’s very helpful to have three guys show up and immediately help the team out,” Catlin said.
The Lobos as a team claimed one tournament this year — the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio, Texas. UNM seized victory by eight strokes over Texas A&M University and North Texas University.
The Lobos faced some of the top teams in the country this season, including the No. 1 University of Texas.
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Entering the final round of play at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas, UNM was six strokes behind the Longhorns, but on the back nine the Lobos fell apart and Texas to won by 16 strokes.
Although the Lobos lost the tournament, Millican said he was happy with the performance the Lobos put on against the top team in the nation.
“To go down there and know that we played good enough golf to stay with the number-one team in the country on their home golf course says a lot about these guys,” Millican said.
In the MWC, the competition just gets harder as the University of Las Vegas ranks No. 11 in the nation, while SDSU ranks No. 15.
Catlin said that both teams present a challenge for the conference championship, but the Lobos already beat both teams.
“UNLV and SDSU are our two biggest competitors,” Catlin said. “We have a pretty good chance at beating them because we have already beaten both of them this year.”
