New Mexico Captures Second Top-5 Finish to End Fall Season

Lobos place four in top-25, Erkenbeck notches third-straight top-10 finish

James Erkenbeck closed his fall season with an eight-place finish at the Baylor Intercollegiate - his third straight top-10 finish

Oct. 27, 2009

Baylor Intercollegiate Final Results Team Results | Individual Results | Tournament Stats

DALLAS - While the sun finally came out at the Royal Oaks Country Club after two days of steady, sometimes violent rainstorms, the University of New Mexico men's golf team put the finishing touches on a top-5 finish at the Baylor Intercollegiate.

The Lobos closed the three-round event with a final-round, 2-under-par 282 - their second-best team score of the fall season. New Mexico finished with a 14-over-par 866 total score to close the Invitational, leaving them in a tie for fourth place with host Baylor and one stroke behind third-place Iowa.

Individually, the Lobos' James Erkenbeck also closed strong, shooting back-to-back 1-under 70s in his final two rounds to finish with an even-par 213, good enough to tie for eighth place with Texas' Dylan Frittelli. Erkenbeck wrapped up his fall season with three-straight top-10 finishes.

Erkenbeck is one of four Lobos to finish in the top 25. John Catlin (69-75-73) and Travis Ross (74-75-68) tied for 18th place at 4-over. Nick Geyer closed by carding a 6-over, 75-73-71=219. Sam Chavez tied for 61st with a 22-over 75-83-77=235, and Ryan Smith finished in 65th with a 25-over 78-81-79=238.

The Lobos' 14-over team finish is an 18-stroke improvement over last year's 32-over, sixth-place finish at the inaugural Baylor event. New Mexico also finished nine strokes ahead of Texas, ranked No. 8 nationally in Golfweek's Men's Collegiate Team Rankings, as well as No. 48 Arkansas and No. 60 (and fellow Mountain West Conference member) No. 61 BYU.

The fourth-place finish is New Mexico's second top-5 finish of the fall season and comes as the Lobos wrap up their fall season schedule. New Mexico's next tournament takes place next year - Feb. 1-2 at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

Texas A&M repeated as team champion at the Baylor. The Aggies posted a 4-under 848 to capture the team title, followed by SMU three strokes back with a 1-under 851.

SMU's James Kwon also repeated as champion, defending his medalist performance at the 2008 Baylor by carding a 6-under 207. Arkansas' David Lingmerth and A&M's Cameron Peck tied for second place with 4-under 209s.