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Lobos To Compete In NCAA West Regional
New Mexico men's golf prepares for match as NCAA Championship bid remains on the line.
May 14, 2001 TEEING OFF: The University of New Mexico men's golf team begins its second leg of the postseason this weekend when the Lobos compete in the 2001 NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Ore., May 17-19. The 54-hole tournament is being held at the Trysting Tree Golf Course and consists of 27 teams and six individuals not on those teams. The top 10 teams and the top two individuals not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C., May 30 - June 3. UNM, ranked 13th in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, will tee off at 12:33 p.m. (MDT) on Thursday, May 17, and at 8:30 a.m. (MDT) on Friday, May 18. Saturday's tee times will be determined following the second round. New Mexico is the top seed in District VII, and one of the top three seeds in the tournament. The Lobos will play with the other top seeds, Arizona State and USC, ranked 1-2 in District VIII. UNM will be attempting to reach the NCAA Championships for the 11th time in 12 years and the 15th time in 17 years. New Mexico finished fifth in last year's NCAA West Regional in Fresno, Calif., en route to a 19th-place showing at the NCAA Championships. UNM won the 1998 NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz., the Lobos' only regional championship in school history.
THE FIELD: The NCAA West Regional consists of 27 teams, 18 of which are ranked in the MasterCard top-50, in addition to six individuals from schools not invited to the tournament. The field (ranking in parentheses): New Mexico (13), Brigham Young (12), San Diego State (25), Colorado State (46), Fresno State, Nevada-Reno, Arizona State (4), USC (6), Arizona (14), UNLV (27), Oregon (22), Pepperdine (29), Washington (24), California (39), UCLA (33), Stanford (36), Oregon State, Pacific, South Carolina (17), Wake Forest (10), Tennessee (40), Cal-Irvine, Austin Peay, Oral Roberts, Weber State, Detroit and Navy. The following individuals will compete: Scott Carlyle (Hawaii), Jeff Wood (UCSB), David Hearn (Wyoming), John Mallinger (Long Beach State), Matt Bellinger (Denver) and Ryan Hanratty (San Diego).
THE COURSE: The NCAA West Regional will be played at the Trysting Tree Golf Course, which measures 7,060 yards and has a par of 72.
RESULTS: Results from the NCAA West Regional will be sent to local media directly from the UNM Media Relations Office. They can also be found on the web at www.golobos.com and www.osubeavers.com.
LOBO RANKINGS: New Mexico is ranked in the top-20 of three major polls. The MasterCard Collegiate Golf rankings have UNM at No. 13 in its May 9 poll, while Golf World ranks the Lobos at No. 8 as of May 8. Additionally, Golfweek rates UNM 16th as of May 7. Last year, New Mexico was ranked as high as 13th and finished the year at No. 17 in the MasterCard poll. From an individual standpoint, Michael Letzig is ranked No. 69 by MaserCard, Wil Collins is No. 94 in the MasterCard poll and No. 73 in Golf Week, and Joel Hendry is No. 71 in Golf Week. Hendry was also listed by Golf World as one of the top-50 golfers in the nation heading into the season.
VS. THE FIELD: UNM has faced 20 of the teams in the NCAA West Regional:
LOBOS IN THE WEST REGIONAL: New Mexico is competing in its 13th straight
NCAA West Regional - the Lobos have participated in every Regional since
the NCAA adopted the current format in 1989. Only twice have the Lobos
failed to advance to the NCAA Championships coming out of Regional play -
1989 and 1999. The Lobos won the tournament in 1998, tying with Arizona
State for team honors in Tempe. The Lobos' lowest team score in regional
play was last season, when they shot 850, -14. The top individual finish
came from Mike Sauer, who won medalist honors at the 1995 NCAA West
Regional played in Albuquerque. Sauer shot 208 (-8) in the event. Current
senior Joel Hendry shot 208 (-8) to finish second at the 2000 NCAA West
Regional in Fresno last season.
A look at UNM's regional finishes:
HIGGINS NAMED 2001 MWC COACH OF THE YEAR: Lobo head coach J.T. Higgins was named the 2001 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading UNM to three tournament victories in the 2000-01 campaign. New Mexico was ranked in the top 20 all season and featured two players ranked in the top-100 among individuals. This was the first coach of the year honor for Higgins, now in his fourth season at UNM and as a head coach overall. Higgins is the first Lobo mentor since John Fields won the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996. Additionally, UNM boasted two members of the all-conference team. Wil Collins and Michael Letzig were named first team all-conference. Collins was named all-conference for the second time in his three years.
CURRENT LOBOS AT NCAA REGIONALS: New Mexico has a very deep and experienced team this season, as four of the five have competed in NCAA Regional play in year's past. Two Lobos, Joel Hendry and Wil Collins, have competed in regional play at least twice before. A look at the current Lobos and how they have fared at the NCAA Regionals in their career:
Joel Hendry 1998 NCAA East Regional 76-80-72=228, +12 T85th 1999 NCAA West Regional 78-78-77=233, +17 T80th 2000 NCAA West Regional 72-66-70=208, -8 T2nd Wil Collins 1999 NCAA West Regional 73-75-73=221, +5 T27th 2000 NCAA West Regional 70-72-80=222, +6 T79th Scott Hailes 2000 NCAA West Regional 75-72-74=221, +5 T74th Michael Letzig 2000 NCAA West Regional 74-73-69=216, E T38th FOUR OF A KIND: Four of the six regulars on the UNM squad this season have now claimed medalist honors during their collegiate careers. Sophomore Michael Letzig won the John Burns Invitational in late February, senior Rob Kortan captured the Pepperdine Intercollegiate in October 2000, junior Wil Collins won the 1999 BELLSOUTH Intercollegiate as a freshman, and senior Joel Hendry has won the 1999 Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate (as a sophomore) and the 2000 Morris Williams Intercollegiate (as a junior). Through an informal survey, the Lobos are believed to be the only team in the nation with four active members who have won an individual tournament during their college careers.
LOBOS SHATTER SCHOOL RECORDS IN HAWAII: The Lobos spent the last week of February in Hawaii, but the purpose of the trip was anything but vacation. New Mexico was all business in scorching the field at the John Burns Intercollegiate en route to a five-shot victory and set several school records in the process. UNM shot a 54-hole total of 832 (-32), shattering the previous school standard of 842 (-22), set in 1998. Additionally, the team shot a second-round 271 (-17), bettering by one the school record for an 18-hole round. Finally, sophomore Michael Letzig won the event with a 199 (-17), two shots better than Tim Herron's school record 54-hole total of 201 (-15), set in 1992. Letzig shot in the 60's each day and his second-round 64 was the second-lowest round in school annals. The team victory was UNM's second of the season, a first since the 1992-93 squad also won two events.
LOBOS WIN THIRD TOURNEY IN TEXAS: UNM took medalist honors in the 15-team Border Olympics Apr. 6-7, giving them three tournament wins in a season for the first time since accurate records were kept in 1987. The Lobos bolted to a six-stroke lead after the first 36 holes and held on to win by five over Texas. UNM shot 855 (-9), its third event of the season with a sub-par total. Redshirt freshman Jim Anderson led the way with a second-place finish at 211 (-5), while Wil Collins and Scott Hailes each finished T6th at 215 (-1).
LOBOS VICTORIOUS AT PEPPERDINE: UNM won its first outright tournament title since 1997, capturing the Pepperdine intercollegiate with a three-round total of 879 (+15) Oct. 9-10. Additionally, senior Rob Kortan won the individual title at 216 (E), giving him his first career medalist honors. The Lobos finished nine strokes ahead of second place San Diego State (888, +24). UNM had not won a team title outright since the 1997 Golf Digest Intercollegiate, in Houston, Texas, three-and-a-half years ago.
LOBO LINEUP: UNM will bring five golfers to the NCAA West Regional. The UNM five-some consists of (2000-01 stroke averages in parentheses): Joel Hendry (73.03), Wil Collins (73.06), Michael Letzig (73.39), Scott Hailes (74.00) and Jim Anderson (74.98). Joel Hendry (Elgin, Scotland) has the Lobos' low stroke average at 73.03. If he maintains that average, it would be the 10th-lowest single-season stroke average in school history. Hendry boasts three top-10 finishes this season and seven top-20 showings. Only once in the last 15 tournaments has Hendry finished outside of the top 40, dating back to last year. He is currently ranked No. 71 in the Golf Week poll. He was the top Lobo at the Mountain West Conference Championships, shooting 223, +7, good for T5th. After an opening-round 80, he responded by shooting -1 (72-71) in the final two rounds, despite the blustery, windy conditions. It was his second straight top-20 finish, following a T11th at the ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invitational (Apr. 13-14), in which he shot 210 (-6). His first round 66 was a season-low. He was second on the team at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate (Mar. 26-27), placing T17th at 145, +1. He led the team at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate with a 219 (+3), T23rd. He had a 10th-place finish at the John Burns Intercollegiate (Feb. 21-23), in which he shot 209 (-7), including a final-round 68. He shot a team-low 211 (-5) to finish T18th at the Golf World Invitational last fall, and placed T29th at Duke. Prior to that, he was coming off his first top-10 showing of the year, as he was T7th at the Pepperdine Intercollegiate at 222, +6. He has shot a team-best 18 of 34 rounds at par or better this year, including 7 at 70 or lower. In his first two tournaments this year, he finished T18th (second on the team) at the Topy Cup in Japan with a score of 221 (+5) and T38th (222, +6) at the Tucker. He was chosen as one of the top-50 players in the nation by Golf World during the preseason. The senior improved his game tremendously at the end of the season, finishing 14th at the Mountain West Conference Championships, T2nd at the NCAA West Regional, and even though he did not make the cut at the NCAA Championships, he was T6th with a 68 after the first round. An academic all-conference selection, he finished the 2000 season ranked 51st in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf poll. Hendry also had the distinction of playing for the European team in the 2000 Palmer Cup last summer. Wil Collins (Rapid City, S.D.) is a junior who became the first freshman in school history to be named All-American in 1998-99. He was recently named to the 2001 all-Mountain West Conference team, and finished T11th (227, +11) at the league tournament. He leads the team with four top-10 finishes on the season and has seven top-20s. He is currently ranked No. 73 in the Golf Week poll and 94th in MasterCard. He has finished in the top-20 in three of the last four tournaments, including T14th at the Morris Williams (Mar. 26-27) and T6th at the Border Olympics (Apr. 6-7). He is currently second on the team with a 73.06 stroke average and has 14 off 33 rounds at par or better at 5 rounds at 70 or lower. In the Las Vegas Intercollegiate (Mar. 9-11), he shot 221 (+5), to finish T28th. He had his best showing in four tournaments at the Cleveland Golf Classic (Mar. 5-6), as he placed T6th at 146 (+4). He shot a team-low for the event and his second-round 68 in the rain-soaked event was the best individual score of the entire tournament. Collins now has 10 career top-10 finishes. He shot a 219 (+3), good for T46th at the John Burns Intercollegiate in late February. He was T47th (217, +1) at the Golf World Invitational in his final event of the fall. He finished T13th at the Duke Golf Classic (221, +5), in early October, he placed second at the Pepperdine Intercollegiate, and actually had the lead with two holes to go. He is currently tops on the Lobos with a 72.89 stroke average, including 11 of 27 rounds at par or better. He also placed third as a member of the junior varsity at the Falcon Cross Creek invite, after beginning the year with a 43rd-place finish at the William H. Tucker last month. Although he did not quite match his rookie year in the 1999-00 campaign, he was honored as an Academic All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America - just the ninth Lobo ever. Collins was the 1999 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and he won two tournaments to boot. Last year, he had a 73.12 stroke average and was one of 24 players invited to El Paso, Texas, to compete in the Savane All-America Classic in November. Michael Letzig (Richmond, Mo.) was an all-Mountain West Conference performer, as he followed up with an impressive sophomore season after being named the league's freshman of the year in 2000. His 1999-00 stroke average was 72.65 (second on the team) and he shot the lowest four-round total at the NCAA Championships in UNM history (286, -2), finishing T34th, and was the only Lobo to play in all four rounds of the tournament. He is currently ranked No. 69 in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf poll. He is currently third on the team in stroke average at 73.39 and has shot 12 of 31 rounds at par or better, including 6 at 70 or lower. He was named the national and the Mountain West Conference golfer of the week (Mar. 2) after shooting 199 (-17) and winning the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii. The total was a school-record for 54 holes, bettering Tim Herron's 201 in 1992. He finished T16th at the Mountain West Conference Championships for his first top-20 in the last four events. Following his win in Hawaii, he shot 147 (+5) to finish T9th at the Cleveland Golf Classic (Mar. 5-6), giving him back-to-back top-10s for the second time in his career. He finished 5th and 7th at the Cougar Classic and the MWC Championships as a freshman last year. He was T39th in his final tournament of the fall, carding a 215 (-1) at the Golf World Invitational in November. He was T13th at the Duke Golf Classic in October (221, +5), and he placed T38th at the Pepperdine Intercollegiate (229, +13), although his second round score of 72 helped propel UNM into the team lead of a tournament they would eventually win. He also placed T26th (224, +8) at the Topy Cup and T5th (214, -2) at the William H. Tucker. Letzig, who was also named one of five freshmen All-Americans by the Golf Coaches Association of America, finished the 1999-00 season with a team-best 19 rounds at par or better to go along with nine rounds of 70 or better. He finished the year ranked No. 72 in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf poll and shot no worse than even-par in each of his final five tournaments. Scott Hailes (W. Bountiful, Utah) has the potential to be one of the Lobos' top golfers at every tournament. He is currently fifth on the team with a 74.00 stroke average, but he has shot as low as 68 in a round this season, and has gone as low as -10 in a tournament during his career. He finished T22nd at the Mountain West Conference Championships two weeks ago at 232 (+16). He turned in a magnificent performance Apr. 6-7 at the Border Olympics to stop a three-tournament slump. He fired 215 (-1) to finish T6th. It was his first top-10 finish as a member of the varsity this season and stopped a streak which saw him finish out of the top-30 in three straight events. He finished T14th (211, -5) at the John Burns Intercollegiate in late February, his second straight tournament at -5. He placed T18th at the Golf World Invitational last November, also shooting 211, including back-to-back rounds of 69 over his final 36 holes. The performance helped him break out of a temporary slump, (Duke Golf Classic, T52nd, 230, +14 and Pepperdine Intercollegiate, T48th, 232, +16). Prior to the event, however, he did have the team's lowest stroke average. He shot 214 (-2), good for a fifth-place tie at the William H. Tucker in October and has 14 rounds at par or better on the year and 5 at 70 or lower. Hailes, who also shot 222 (+6) and finished T21st at the Topy Cup in September, had a tremendous first season with New Mexico. After missing three years of collegiate play due to a two-year Mormon mission and a redshirt season, the transfer from Wright State recorded five top-20 finishes in 1999-00 and had a 72.95 stroke average. He shot a 206 (-10) at the John Burns Invitational in Hawaii, the sixth-lowest 54-hole total in school history. He also fired a 208 (-8) at the BYU Ben Hogan Classic, good for the 10-lowest score in school history. He finished the year ranked No. 68 in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf poll, and was also an all-academic Mountain West honoree to boot. Jim Anderson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was a redshirt last season and has played in just four varsity events during his career. He had a roller-coaster ride in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, shooting 228 (+12), T13th. After a first-round 84 left him ahead of just three golfers in the field, he rebounded to shoot 69 in the second-round, the lowest score on the day. He finished with a 75, but proved he could play at a championship level. In his second career varsity tournament, he shot 211 (-5) to lead the team and finish second overall at the Border Olympics (Apr. 6-7), including back-to-back 69s in the first and second round. In the first varsity event of his career, the Morris Williams Intercollegiate (Mar. 26-27), he performed respectably with a 150 (+6), T37th. He has played with the junior varsity four times this year and has compiled a stroke average of 74.98 in 21.5 rounds, but he has also shot 69 on three occasions. His best three-round total prior to the Border Olympics was 226 (+10), at the Herb Wimberly Classic in Las Cruces, and his best finish had been 12th in the rain-shortened W. New Mexico Fall Intercollegiate.
HEAD COACH J.T. HIGGINS: J.T. Higgins is in his fourth year at the helm of Lobo men's golf. He came to UNM after serving as an assistant from 1991-97 for UNLV coach and former Lobo boss Dwaine Knight. He led New Mexico to its first-ever NCAA West Regional title in 1998, his first year, and the Lobos have been to two NCAA Championships in his three years. He has also coached three All-Americans, 10 Academic all-conference achievers and 10 All-District players. Higgins is assisted by Glen Millican, a 1998 UNM graduate, now in his third season on the staff. Millican was an Academic All-American for the Lobos in 1997.
EVERYONE'S BACK: UNM has the distinct advantage of having all of its top-six players returning from 1999-00. Joel Hendry, Scott Hailes, Michael Letzig, Kevin Price, Wil Collins and Rob Kortan all led the team in scoring in a tournament last year on at least one occasion. All six have NCAA Championship experience and all have been together for at least three years. The six-some helped UNM achieve a national ranking of 13 last year, as the Lobos did not fall from the polls at any point during the season.
TOP-20 STROKE AVERAGES: A tribute to the Lobos' success last season was
the fact that all six players who saw the majority of the action recorded
season stroke averages among the best in school history. Joel Hendry, who
led the team with 72.63 had the sixth-lowest average in school annals.
Michael Letzig (72.65) was seventh and Scott Hailes (72.95) was eighth.
Wil Collins (73.12) was 10th, Kevin Price (73.13) was 11th and Rob Kortan
(73.74) was 17th. Tim Herron holds the school record with a 71.85 stroke
average in 1992-93.
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