The University of New Mexico Lobos Men’s Golf team season came to a dramatic end on Wednesday.
Though the Lobos had an unfortunate Round 2, they began the day in sixth place and had a chance of punching a ticket to the National Championship Tournament at the end of the month in Eugene, Oregon.
It was windy, cold, and dark for almost the entire afternoon. UNM started the round on the back-nine just like they had on Tuesday, and the struggles still continued.
The Lobos had a tough time scoring well on holes 10-18. Right away, the UNM’s bogies started to pile up. When New Mexico only had two players through six holes they already had 6 bogeys, compared to their 1 birdie, and began to fall down the leaderboard.
The Lobos’ play picked up when they started their second-nine. Garcia eagled on hole one and Morantes, Kim, and Carlon all hit birdie putts at around the same time, and the Lobos improved to a +5 for the day. This set them up for a chance to finish amongst the top five.
As UNM came down the stretch, they had a perfect opportunity to rise up for an opportunity to make it to the National Championship.
When Andre Garcia started his last hole, the Lobos were only one shot out fifth place. He had a beautiful third shot and stuck the ball in the middle of the green and had an 8-ft putt for birdie. He missed it by a hair, forced to tap in for par. He finished his day at +2, his best round of the tournament.
During this time, Texas A&M extended their fifth place lead and were up 3-strokes when Carlon approached hole number 9.
Carlon also had a birdie opportunity and failed to capitalize. He finished with a par and ended the day at +6. Kim followed up Carlon with a par as well and finished his day at +5.
Morantes was the next Lobo to have an opportunity to cut into to lead, when he hit his ball off the fairway into the woods. It took him and about five other people to find his ball and when they did, he didn’t have much to work with. But, it didn’t faze him.
He had a tremendous shot and landed his ball on the green and had a 10-ft putt for birdie. Just like his two teammates before him, he also failed to make the putt and ended his round at 3-over-par.
Bevins was the last Lobo to finish. He had a fantastic second and third shot and he tapped in for birdie. He finished the round at four-over-par. He was the only Lobo that was able to make his birdie putt on hole nine.
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The Lobos missed the fifth place cut by only 3-strokes. If they all would have made their birdie putts, they would have tied for fifth place and could have had a chance to go to the national championship. But the team failed to do so, bringing an end to the season.
ASU dominated the field again in the final round and finished in first place. The Sun Devils won by a total of 12-strokes. ASU’s Jon Rahm showed why he is the No. 1 ranked amateur player in the world. He finished his tournament at -4, which was the best out of any player.
Here is how the rest of the teams finished. The top 5 will all be going to the National Championship at the end of the month:
1) Arizona State: +12
2) TCU: +24
3) USC: +31
4) South Florida: +35
T5) SDSU: +40
T5) Texas A&M: +40
T7) Texas Tech: +43
T7) New Mexico: +43
9) Liberty: +59
10) Iowa: +61
11) North Carolina State: +65
T12) Army West Point: +77
T12) Cleveland State: +77
14) Wagner College: +103
The Lobos failed to have a player individually finish in the top 5. Here is how they all finished:
Gustavo Morantes: +11 T22
Andrej Bevins: +9 T13
Sam Kim: +15 T37
Sean Carlon +14 T49
Andre Garcia: +17 T43
