After season-opening win, UNM men's golf set to defend home turf at Tucker Invitational

To Jake Harrington, the first tournament of the season is always an “outlier.” You might feel confident. You might not.

It might not matter.

“You don’t know what you’re going to get,” Harrington, the third-year coach of the UNM men’s golf team, said Thursday.

Heading into their second tournament, the Lobos would like to prove their start was anything but an outlier.

After tying for The Wohali title on Tuesday, UNM is set to host the 70th William H. Tucker Invitational this weekend at UNM Championship Course, the Lobos’ lone opportunity to defend their home turf this season.

The 54-hole tournament will be played Friday and Saturday with an 18-team field that includes Southern Cal, Colorado, New Mexico State and Mountain West programs like Colorado State and Fresno State.

Senior Mesa Falleur, juniors Wyatt Provence, Johnnie Clark, Oliver Cage and freshman Thayer Plewe will start on behalf of UNM.

Senior Alvaro Portillo (the 2024 Tucker individual champion) and freshman Emil Albers will compete as individuals.

Returning several key players from a team that made the NCAA Championship last season, Harrington said he was confident in his squad entering the Lobos’ first tournament this week at Wohali Golf Club in Coalsville, Utah. Others might not have been so sure. For instance, Falleur was dealing with a back injury, and hadn’t been able to swing a club the week prior.

“I wasn’t expecting really anything,” the former Missouri-Kansas City transfer admitted Tuesday.

Senior Wyatt Provence had also taken a few weeks away from golf over the summer after he “struggled” to find greater consistency. Additionally, UNM was starting a true freshman in Thayer Plewe, fresh off a two-year mission through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As talented as the Lobos are, it seemed reasonable to assume it might take a little bit of time to click.

That was far from the case against a loaded field at Wohali. Falleur shot a final round five-under-par 66 to finish in third place at seven-under. Provence delivered a career-best 65 to place seventh at five-under, while Plewe came in at one-under to finish 12th in his first college event.

After coming close but never finishing the job last season, UNM (14-under as a team) closed at the top of the team leaderboard, a co-champion with Arizona State.

“(Last season), we couldn’t really get four or five guys playing well (at once),” Falleur said. “We did it in (NCAA) regionals but throughout the entire year, we never got (there) … And I think we already have five guys playing well right now, so I think that’s going to (lead to) a total change in our results throughout the season.”

There might be more than just those four or five, though. With the “firepower” on the team, Harrington feels UNM could have a different lineup for every tournament this season, a testament to a team he thinks is seven deep to start the year.

“It’s different from week-to-week who plays (well) and who doesn’t,” he said. “It’s going to be really hard as a coach, but it could also be really easy. I mean, it’s a good problem to have each week when you’re trying to figure out who your top five guys are.”

Even with the depth, UNM has one top-flight golfer to build around in Falleur. The Muskogee, Oklahoma, native has risen from 3,404 to 164 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings since joining the Lobos last summer, the lead-in to a season that saw him earn All-Mountain West honors.

Harrington thinks he’s good enough to do more.

“(Falleur) can, and should be, an All-American,” Harrington said. “I mean, he’s that special of a kid and he has grown so much just in the last year. Just his attitude on the golf course — not that it was bad — (but) he can shake things off a little better this year … He understands what he does well and how he can prepare and win tournaments.”

Harrington is hoping that winning starts this weekend, and he knows his team is ready for the challenge.

“This team can be great. It can be one of the best teams to come through Lobo golf,” Harrington said. “And, you know, we’re excited for that journey and that process.”