On Friday, the UNM men's golf team opens its 2002-2003 season at the 48th annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate tournament at the UNM Championship Course.
The men's golf team hopes to build on last year's level of success. In 2001, the team managed to tie for first in the NCAA West Regional Tournament, as well as a gaining a birth in the NCAA Golf Championships for the 11th time in 13 years.
The team realizes, however, that it won't be easy.
"We lost a couple big parts in Wil Collins and Scott Hailes," head coach Glen Millican said. "They kind of led our team. We're trying to fill a couple of voids. We have a lot of young guys with a lot of talent."
This year's team includes three out of the five Lobos that played in the NCAA Championships last year. The three returning players are senior Micheal Letzig, sophomore Jay Reynolds and sophomore Madalitso Muthiya.
Millican said the younger players on the team should also add new and promising talent to this year's team.
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"We have enough talent to win, it's whether the young guys can pick it up," he said. "We have a true freshman Jae Choi, I look for him to be a pretty good player."
Letzig returns as the star of team this year. He held a 72.56 stroke last season, which currently ranks seventh best in the history of UNM golf.
Letzig also holds the current school record for a low round of 54 holes with a 199 last year. He has been named to the Golf World Top 50 Male Players to Watch List.
He was also named a Freshman all-American for the year 2000 by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
"He had a solid year last year, he's been playing pretty good the past couple of months," Millican said. "He's by far the most experienced and talented player on the team."
Hosting the Tucker tournament, which the Lobos have won seven times, including last year, will include 18 quality teams, four of which are ranked in the Golf World Preseason Top 25 poll.
Those teams include 4th ranked Arizona, 16th ranked UNLV, 21st ranked Oklahoma and 25th ranked Pepperdine.
The tournament is the second-oldest golf tournament in the nation, behind only the New England Intercollegiate.
The Tucker has seen a number of prominent golf legends walk its greens. They include current PGA pro Tim Herron, who until last year held the 54-hole individual record. Letzig broke that record last year.
Another notable includes Current PGA pro Tiger Woods, who won the 1994 tournament in his first career college event as a freshman at Stanford.
Play begins with 36 holes and a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. Friday Sept. 13.
The tournament concludes Saturday with the final 18 holes, also at a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m.
Admission is free.
