UNM men's golf team wins NCAA regional

sports@dailylobo.com
@ThomasRomeroS

The New Mexico men’s golf team carded an 18-over 870 through three days to clinch the NCAA Columbus Regional at The Ohio State University Golf Club on Saturday.

Senior James Erkenbeck shot a 3-under 210 (72-70-68) to claim the individual championship. The fifth-ranked Lobos were the lone team to shoot under par in the final round (1-under 283). UNM defeated No. 19 Auburn and No.23 South Carolina by two strokes.

Mountain West Conference rival UNLV finished fourth at 26-under 878, Texas Tech placed fifth at 27-under 879.

“This is an awesome accomplishment for this group of players,” UNM head coach Glen Millican said in a release. “I couldn’t be more proud. It’s incredible, some of the things they’ve done this year. Our program has a rich history, and they’ve done some things that haven’t been done here before.”

It’s the Lobos first regional championship since 2002 and they will play in the NCAA Championship at Alpharetta Ga., which will start on May 28. This is the first time in school history that UNM won both the conference and regional title in the same season.

Erkenbeck finished four strokes ahead of Auburn’s Dominic Bozzelli, Virginia’s Denny McCarthy and South Carolina’s Matthew NeSmith.

“Getting through to the NCAA Championship was the main thing,” Erkenbeck said. “I don’t know how much the individual title meant, but I guess you could say winning today was a form of redemption for us missing out on those other two regionals (by a stroke). For sure, this is the best team I’ve ever been on, and it might be the best team in Lobo history. Time will tell.”

Erkenbeck became the first Lobo to win a regional individual title since Michael Letzig won in 2003 in Auburn, Wash.

“We’ll enjoy this tonight, and then we’ll come back home tomorrow and start getting ready for the NCAA Championship,” he said. “That is a relief; I didn’t want to go my whole career without playing in one.”

Senior John Catlin tied for ninth place with a 4-over 217 (75-69-73), sophomore Gavin Green shot a 6-over 219 tying for 15th, sophomore Victor Perez carded an 11-over 224 (76-76-72) for a tie at 37th, and senior Benjamin Bauch managed a 19-over 159 (81-78-73) to tie for 65th.