by Jeff Proctor
Daily Lobo
High winds, firm, fast greens and a monster 18th hole played crucial roles at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson Ariz., where the UNM men's golf team ended its two-tournament slump with a hard-fought, second-place finish March 30 through April 1.
At the conclusion of a wind-blown day one, the Lobos stood 11 shots off the pace with a 12-over-par 300. The second round saw more benign conditions and UNM took advantage, posting an 8-under 280.
"We had four guys play really well today," Lobo head coach Glen Millican said after round two.
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The best of the four was sophomore Madalitso Muthiya's 5-under-par 67. Muthiya scorched the Tucson National Golf Club with seven birdies against only two bogeys, one of which came at the 18th - a water-laden, 465-yard par-4 brute that consistently ranks among the most difficult on the PGA Tour.
"I was on the faiArway and just pulled my 5-iron left of the green," Muthiya said. "I hit an all right chip to eight feet and lipped out for par."
The stage was set for a Tuesday, down-to-the-wire shootout with the sixth-ranked, host-squad University of Arizona Wildcats, who had surged to the front of the pack with a 278 in Monday's relative calm.
As the two teams turned for home, UNM had seized the lead.
"We caught a great team on their home course," Millican said. "The night before, it would have been hard to imagine being in that situation."
But the comeback wasn't to be. The Lobos gave back shots on 16, 17 and 18, while Arizona cashed in on two key 30-foot putts over the closing stretch, giving it a three-day total of 870 - good for a four-stroke victory, its fourth of the spring.
UNM senior Michael Letzig was among those bitten by the final two holes, as he finished bogey-bogey for a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday.
As it turned out, two pars would have done the job. Three-putts at 17 and 18 gave Letzig a three-day total of 214 and a tie for second, two shots behind Alejandro Canizares of Arizona State University. The Invitational was Letzig's fourth top-15 in five 2003 events.
"I was pretty disappointed when I heard the leaders had only finished 4-under, but there's not much you can do about that while you're on the course," he said. "I three-putted the last two holes. Oh well."
Muthiya struggled to a 76 in Tuesday's tough conditions, but his 2-over-par 218 total landed him in a respectable tie for 10th.
Freshman Jay Choi fired rounds of 79-70-74 - 223 to finish tied for 24th. Like Letzig, Choi felt the sting at 18, where he drove into the water and made a double-bogey-six. A resurgent putter, however, kept him feeling good about his game.
Returning to the Lobo lineup were sophomore Jay Reynolds and junior Derek Abel. Reynolds finished 42nd at 227, and Abel was one place higher at 228.
Reynolds, who has been out of action for over a month with a back injury, put the week in perspective:
This was a big confidence boost for us . . . We did everything but win."
The Lobos will try to one-up this week's performance when they travel to Tempe, for the ASU Thunderbird Intercollegiate April 11-12.
