Oct. 8—SANTA ANA PUEBLO — If match play is about attitude, Mike Dirks liked what he saw from New Mexico State on Tuesday.
“We talked about being tough,” New Mexico State’s men’s golf coach told the Journal. “We talked about, you know, you have to win one hole. How are you going to win one hole?
“And you have to be tough, you have to have a heart because (in) match play, you might think you might win, and a guy makes a 15-footer and you’ve got a seven-footer. All of a sudden things change.”
And if match play is far more unpredictable than not, the Aggies were more than happy to play their part.
NMSU men’s golf rallied for perhaps the biggest surprise of the NB3 Matchplay’s opening rounds, picking up 4.5 points from Stanford for a one-point lead over Texas on the men’s team leaderboard heading into the final round.
The Aggies take on rival New Mexico on Wednesday at Twin Warriors Golf Club to conclude the Notah Begay III-hosted tournament.
Javier Delgadillo (2-up), Ethan Klose (3-and-2), Vari Mariscal (2-up) and Alexandre Baudin (1-up) all took matches from Stanford in the afternoon after having a chance to tie Texas in the morning.
“We just didn’t get it done there,” Dirks said of a 3-and-2 first-round loss to the Longhorns. “But they had their heads up, and they handled tough times and not the best shots. And all of a sudden, this afternoon, we got it going.
“I mean, we finished.”
And because it’s match play, the Aggies did so in relatively dramatic fashion. Aiden Thomas, a St. Pius alum, entered the back nine at Twin Warriors Golf Club trailing Stanford’s TK Chantananuwat by three points, but met Chantananuwat’s birdie on the par-3 15th with a par.
Two more birdies from Thomas secured a tie and a half-point for each team. In the group after, Delgadillo broke a tie with Jay Leng on the par-4 17th and holed a putt across the 18th green for birdie and a 2-up win.
Baudin capped off the rush with a par save on the 18th hole — putting himself, and NMSU, in position to go up one after Nathan Wang finished with a bogey.
“All our guys work hard,” Dirks said. “I think sometimes it’s just learning to accept. Sometimes if you practice really hard, sometimes you think all your shots are going to be wonderful.
“And they’re not. Golf’s hard. And when you can accept things that aren’t great, you have a chance to be great. And that’s what I think we’re getting better at, just moving forward, accepting the shot, knowing we can deal with whatever happens to us.”
On the women’s leaderboard, Texas won 9.5 of 10 possible points in rounds against NMSU and UNM for a two-point lead over reigning national champion Stanford (7.5).
The Longhorns also lead the combined university leaderboard with 15 points. Stanford (10), NMSU (8) and UNM (7) are in second, third and fourth, respectively.
UNM men’s golf won a morning match against Stanford 3-and-2 before tying Texas — led by Las Cruces native and former UNM coach John Fields — in the afternoon. UNM women’s golf dropped its respective match against the Cardinal 3.5-and-2.5 and were blanked by the Longhorns.
Lobo freshman Clark Sonnenberg put up a team-best 1-0-1 record on Tuesday, starting the day with a 3-and-1 win over Stanford’s Logan Kim and ending it by tying Texas’ Jack Gilbert.
“I think that says a lot about our team, and a lot about the fight that we have,” UNM men’s golf coach Jake Harrington said. “By no means are we ever down.”
And, if nothing else, match play is intense. But will the state rivalry kick UNM-NMSU on Wednesday up a notch?
“Anytime we play New Mexico State, we want the bragging rights, right?” Harrington said. “I mean, we want to control the state. And it’s big for us and (in) match play, it’s anybody’s battle. But we love it, we welcome the fight, the competitiveness and match play is a great equalizer.
“Granted, we took them down at the (William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in September) but I’m sure they want to repay the favor.”
“I mean, the University of New Mexico is good,” Dirks said. “And we’re getting better and we can handle some teams and it’s good — win, lose or draw, as long as you’re getting better and you’re learning, that’s what golf is … And I think for our team today, we matured a lot.
“And that’s what’ll be beneficial to us in the end and that’s what we’re looking forward to: competition, what you learn and how you get better.”
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