Azevedo, Severin Post Top-25 Finishes in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE -- The Wyoming men’s golf team finished off a strong week of competition on Saturday, finishing seventh out of 19 teams at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M.
Leading the Cowboys were sophomore Patrick Azevedo, who finished ninth out of 104 collegiate golfers, and senior Tyler Severin, who tied for 21st.
Azevedo shot a one-over par round of 73 on Saturday to finish the tournament at 212 (-4). Severin fired the best final round for the Cowboys with a 70 (-2) and concluded the tournament with a 54-hole total of 217 (+1). For Azevedo, it capped off an extremely successful week as he posted two Top-10 finishes -- ninth at the Tucker and second place earlier in the week at the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colo.
As a team, the Cowboys finished with a three-round total of 874 (+10) to finish ahead of Front Range opponents Denver, who finished eighth at 876 (+12), and Colorado, who placed ninth at 880 (+16). The Tucker Intercollegiate was played on one of the top golf courses in college golf -- the University of New Mexico Championship Course.
“To finish seventh in a very competitive field with only one senior and four sophomores, who didn’t have experience on a very difficult golf course, is a good finish for us,” said Joe Jensen, UW Director of Golf and head men’s golf coach. “We finished strong yesterday, which gave us some momentum going into today, and we had a real positive energy on our team this weekend.
“The guys played well today. It wasn’t like everything went our way -- we had to battle. It would have been nice to have moved up to sixth, but I’m proud of the guys and the way they competed. With Pat (Azevedo) finishing ninth on a difficult golf course is a really good tournament for him, and Tyler (Severin) had a nice tournament to finish 21st. This capped off a good week for us with two nice finishes in two very competitive tournaments.”
In addition to their ninth-place showing at the Tucker on Saturday, the Cowboys captured a fourth-place finish in a 15-team field at the Ram Masters Invitational this past Tuesday.
San Diego State captured the team title at the Tucker Intercollegiate, shooting an 848 (-16) to win by eight strokes over host New Mexico, who posted an 856 (-8) team total. The individual medalist was Carson Griggs of Denver, who won by one stroke over Cade Fioroni of UNLV. Griggs finished at 205 (-11), while Fioroni shot a 206 (-10)
The three other sophomores playing for Wyoming in the Tucker included: Jaren Calkins, who tied for 35th at 220 (+4); Kristof Panke, who placed 71st at 226 (+10); and Cade McLaughlin, who tied for 83rd at 229 (+13).
The William H. Tucker Intercollegiate was played on the UNM Championship Course, which measured 7,546 yards and played to a par of 72.
Team Standings
1. San Diego State 279-280-289=848 (-16)
2. New Mexico
3. UNLV
4. TCU
5. Brigham Young 295-286-280=861 (-3)
6. New Mexico State 290-296-282=868 (+4)
7. Wyoming
8. Denver
9. Colorado
10. Nebraska
11. San Francisco
12. San Diego
Utah Tech
14. Hawaii
UTSA
16. North Texas
17. Northern Illinois 305-297-300=902 (+38)
18. Loyola Marymount
19. Texas El Paso
Wyoming Team Members
9 Patrick Azevedo 72-67-73=212 (-4)
T21 Tyler Severin 74-73-70=217 (+1)
T35 Jaren Calkins 73-73-74=220 (+4)
T71 Kristof Panke 76-75-75=226 (+10)
T83 Cade McLaughlin 77-74-78=229 (+13)