For the second straight outing, the UNM men's golf team struggled against a strong field -- this time at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas, March 16-17.
"I think that in these last two tournaments, our inexperience and lack of maturity have really gotten exposed," head coach Glen Millican said. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing."
With rounds of 294-299-289--882 (+18), the Lobos finished alone in 15th, a distant 40 shots behind first place Oklahoma State University, which broke a 19-year-old tournament scoring record, with a 22-under-par 842.
Along with the University of Texas Longhorns, which finished second with a three-round total of 843 (-21), the Sooners ran away and from the other 16 teams competing at the Austin Country Club.
Despite a lack of wind and soft greens, only two other teams were able to break par: UNLV, which shot a 6-under 858 to finish third; and Texas Christian University, the fourth-place finisher at 1-under. Arizona State University rounded out the top-five with a 1-over 865.
Another solid performance from Michael Letzig was the Lobos' brightest spot. The senior fired rounds of 69-74-70--213, to finish 3-under in 13th place. Eleven shots off the pace set by OSU standout Hunter Mahan, who took home the title with a 14-under-par total of 202.
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Letzig had his chances.
He began the 36-hole Monday marathon by missing the first green. He then proceeded to hit his next 30 greens in regulation making five birdies against only one bogey, before darkness halted play.
"It was seriously pitch-black out there," Letzig said. "I've got this rules official yelling at me, telling me I've got to hit my second shot into number five, (his14th). So I blade it up there short of the green onto some hardpan, then I come out at 7:15 the next morning -- now it's cold and windy -- and I make double-bogey."
A bogey and a birdie later, and Letzig was in with a second-round 74. He got it going again in the final round with two birdies and an eagle in his first 10 holes, but knocked an 8-iron in the water at the par-3 second, his 11th, which resulted in another double-bogey.
Notwithstanding the mistakes and a shaky putter, Austin was Letzig's third top-15 finish in four starts this spring.
Lobo freshman Jay Choi, who finished tied for 34th at 3-over-par, was able to sympathize with his teammate's struggles on the greens.
"I hit the ball really solid this week," Choi said. "My putting just didn't follow up. I missed a lot of four and five-footers for pars."
Choi led UNM in birdies with a dozen on the strength of quality iron play and was able, for the most part, to stay away from any major disasters.
The Lobos' best individual round of the tournament came from sophomore Madalitso Muthiya, who bounced back from a pair of 77's with a solid 4-under 68 in round three. The good finish moved Muthiya up 25 spots, to a tie for 48th.
A tie for 71st was junior Ian Medlock's worst performance of the spring to date, but a high percentage of fairways hit in regulation in Austin kept his confidence up. He offered a possible reason for the Lobos' headaches with their flat-sticks.
"The greens were a lot slower than what we've been used to," Medlock said. "It was tough getting used to having to hit it so hard."
Sophomore Jeff Briggs, the Lobos' most recent attempt at filling the five-spot, finished in 90th place at 37-over-par.
It has no doubt been a lack of five good scores that have held the Lobos back in recent weeks.
"The one thing really keeping us from competing with these teams is Jay Reynolds being out," Millican said.
UNM will have a chance to solve the fifth-man riddle and score a high finish when it travels to Tucson, Ariz., for the National Invitational Tournament March 30 to April 1.
