UNM men have a strong first day at the NB3 Matchplay

SANTA ANA PUEBLO — Lights. Camera. Roll ‘em.

The latter is exactly what New Mexico golfer Wyatt Provence did on the ol’ lucky No. 17 Tuesday to clinch his round in the, NB3 Matchplay Tournament at Twin Warriors Golf Course — a tournament that was televised, in part, on the Golf Channel.

Staring at a straight-on, uphill, 50-foot putt for birdie, Provence gave it a solid tap and watched it roll true to drop and give him the 2-and-1 victory over Oregon’s Casper Nerpin.

“It was a pretty straight putt,” Provence said. “Me and coach got a good read on it, and I just got lucky that it went in.”

Lucky perhaps, except it quickly looked like it was a going to be a winner.

“Yeah, halfway, it looked like it was right in line with the hole, and we read it pretty straight, so I knew I had a chance,” he said. “It was good feeling after giving away a free hole at 16, so it’s nice to finish it off like that.”

Following right behind him, Thayer Plewe was looking at a 200-yard approach shot on the same hole and stuck a 54-degree wedge within inches of the hole. All his Ducks opponent, Jay Gould-Healy, could do was bend over, pick up the ball and shake Plewe’s hand.

“My coach just clubbed me perfect,” Plewe said. “He told me it was downwind. We looked at the line and he said, ‘It’s a full 54 and you got to hit it and be committed.’ And thanks to my coach, I stuck it pretty dang close. I was really focused and knew that I had to lock in. (I) was able to hit some good shots and finish out the match.”

That helped give the Lobos a 2-1 win over Oregon and left them with five points heading into Wednesday’s final round against New Mexico State, which also has five points.

For the men, the tournament also includes UNLV, which beat New Mexico 3-2 earlier in the day and sits atop the leader board with six points.

On the women’s side, New Mexico dropped both its matches, 4-1 to No. 4 Texas A&M and 5-0 to Arizona, leaving the Lobos to face New Mexico State on Wednesday for third place, while the Wildcats with nine points, and the Texas A&M with eight, will battle it out for the championship.

“In the morning, we fought really hard, took four matches to the last hole, saw a lot of good things,” Lobos coach Jill Trujillo said. “And then the afternoon match against Arizona, we just lost two to three holes right away. So they fought hard, but in match play, you can’t lose that many holes early on and then expect to come back.”

Play was interrupted for at roughly 10 minutes — and bogged down for the rest of the day — when a roughly 8-foot rattlesnake had to be removed from sunning itself on the No. 8 fairway.

That didn’t interrupt the Lobos men’s rally from what was a disappointing opening round against the Rebels, and with play resumed, the tournament was anybody’s to win, New Mexico coach Jake Harrington said.

“Obviously the afternoon makes up for this morning,” he said. “I felt like we had some of the better players, but you let somebody stick around, they’re gonna end up eating you. And UNLV’s a great team, so don’t get that wrong. I just have so much confidence in this team, and the way they’ve been performing; the way they’ve been playing.”

The match also featured the triumphant return of Cibola alum Aiden Krafft, who was proudly donning the Oregon green while winning both of his matches, including 2-and-1 over New Mexico’s Johnnie Clark.

“Coming back to Albuquerque is, like, probably the most special thing, right,” Krafft said. “Because this is my first college tournament in Albuquerque. I mean, the last time I played here in a real tournament was high school, and it was on this course.”

Earlier in the day, he beat New Mexico State’s Javier Delgadillo 4-and-3, completing a home-state sweep. Neither local school recruited Kraft out of high school.

“I’m glad to be with Oregon and beating them,” Krafft said. “But I’m a Lobo at heart. But not today ... or tomorrow.”