NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Glen Millican and his Lobo men’s golf team are ready to host the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, which starts Monday. The Lobos haven’t hosted at home since 2016 and enter this year’s event riding the momentum of winning a Mountain West championship and the knowledge that they compete with top teams.
“Now we feel like we’ve seen some great play from five guys,” said Millican. “So, when you have a lineup where you feel like any of the five guys could play great today, it puts us in a better position because that great round is possible, but we also have room for somebody to struggle a little bit. We feel like we have the talent for somebody else to pick up.”
In that group of five is the 23rd ranked player in the country, Sam Choi. The Lobo junior has been solid this season. “His preparation is always perfect, his competitiveness, his attitude, and the way he manages his game during competition couldn’t be better,” said Millican. “When you combine that with a lot of hard work you are going to see a lot of really good play and even when he’s not playing that good it’s still going to be better than most.”
Choi is looking forward to competing with top-level talent at the University of New Mexico Championship golf course. “There’s going to be some tuff challenges out there, especially thick ruff, wind and we might play a little longer,” said Choi. ” You just, like, stay with your game plan, let it flow. That’s the game plan I have right now.”
The NCAA Albuquerque Regional is May 17 through May 19. The top five teams will advance to the NCAA National Championship Tournament.
In other sports news, the Lobo women’s golf team watched their season end at the NCAA Columbus Regional Wednesday. The Lobos finished tied at 15, as a team, with Nebraska. The University of Georgia won the regional with a one-over-par total. The top six teams advanced to the NCAA National Championship.
Meanwhile, former Albuquerque Academy Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Mike Brown is currently in the hospital battling Parkinson’s Disease. He has had support from family and friends on and off the court. His granddaughter Kennedy, along with the entire Volcano Vista girls basketball team, dedicated the season to Brown. The Lady Hawks gave him a season to remember by winning the state Class 5A championship.
Lastly, the first Albuquerque Isotopes home stand under skipper Warren Schaeffer is in the books. The Isotopes went one and five as Schaeffer learned some things about his team. His takeaways from the series?
“I got that it’s good to be playing baseball again,” said Schaeffer. “It’s good for these guys to get their feet wet and right back in it. I learned in this first series, and everybody around here has learned, these boys don’t quit and that they keep battling.”
The Isotopes are in El Paso for a six game series on the road, starting Thursday at 7 p.m.
