Season Rolls on with Trip to New Mexico
September 21, 2006 | Men's Golf
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Sept. 21, 2006
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech men's golf squad is looking to regroup after finishing 16th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate last weekend. The Red Raiders will travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete in the 52nd William H. Tucker Intercollegiate to be played out at the UNM Championship Course. The 19-team field will begin competition on Friday, September 22, at 7:30 a.m. with the first two rounds. The conclusion to the Tucker will take place the following day with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start.
THE COURSE
The University of New Mexico Championship course will once again host the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate as it has the past 38 years. The par-72 course stretches out over 7,350 yards and is the home course for the New Mexico Lobos.
THE TUCKER FIELD
This week's field isn't nearly as fierce as the one faced at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic in which 10 teams were listed in the GolfWorld preseason top-25. The William H. Tucker field only has half as many, including the Red Raiders. Big 12 in-state rival Texas A&M will enter as the top team in the rankings as the No. 7 squad. No. 12 BYU, No. 13 UNLV and No. 17 Arizona join No. 24 Texas Tech as the ranked teams.
Others joining the Red and Black will be Big 12 opponents Colorado and Missouri. The remaining teams are as follows: Air Force, Colorado State, Denver, Hawaii, Nevada, host New Mexico, New Mexico State, Pepperdine, Sam Houston State, St. Edward's, UTEP, Tulsa and Wyoming.
Tech will see only one familiar team on the links at the UNM Championship course. The Red Raider team faced Texas A&M at the first tournament of the fall season, the International Collegiate. Tech finished immediately before the Aggies in the team standings, with the Red Raiders carding an 861 for fourth place and A&M finishing with even-par 864 in fifth.
THE LAST TEE
Tech struggled to compete in the tough field that comprised the Carpet Capital Collegiate. All 18 teams minus one were ranked in GolfWorld's top 50, with five alone being in the top 10. With a 297 after the first round, the team was in a tie for 14th, and found themselves in a pack with the leader far ahead firing a 12-under 276. Despite progressively shooting lower rounds, Tech fell to 16th after shooting 297-294-293--884.
Jake Younan-Wise led the Red Raiders for the second-straight tournament after tying for 11th. The Australia native carded rounds of 67-75-70--212 to finish in the top 20 for the second time this season. Oscar Floren attempted to avenge a sluggish first-round but finished short by tying for 32nd, four shots shy of a top-20 finish. He turned in rounds of 79-71-67--217. Santiago Rivas tied for 61st in his first competition of the season with rounds of 74-73-77--224. Freshman Will Griffin shot rounds of 77-75-79--231 to finish in a tie for 83rd. Jeremy Martin hit a 242 to finish 90th.
THREE IS THE NUMBER
During the Greg Sands' era of Texas Tech golf, one might notice a common trend at the Tucker Intercollegiate. In the four visits to Albuquerque, N.M., three times the top finisher for the Red Raiders finished in third, with the only exception being in the first Tucker of Sands' Tech career.
In 2003, Raider William Haddrell finished third with a 54-hole 214. Current-senior Oscar Floren fired rounds of 72-71-66--209 to tie for third in 2004. Last year proved to be the most successful for Tech as three Red Raiders finished in the top 10. Andrew Dresser paced the squad with a 6-under 210 to take third place. Brandon Lakatta turned in a 2-under 214 to tie for eighth, while Floren tied for 10th with a 1-under 215.
As a team, Tech has not finished worse than fifth place since 2002. During that year, they took fifth out of 18 with a 54-hole score of 876. The next two years Texas Tech finished in fourth with an 882 in 2003 and 888 in 2004. Anchored by three top-10 individuals in 2005, the team had their best showing as they carded rounds of 280-297-285--862 (-2) to finish third of 20 schools.
Players Mentioned
