GOODYEAR, Ariz. – With every golfer carding scores in the low-to-mid 70’s, the No. 21/23 Western New Mexico University men’s golf team had no troubles holding onto their lead to claim the Mustang Intercollegiate by eight-strokes after the third and final round concluded Tuesday at the Palm Valley Golf Club.
WNMU posted scores of 283-291-287 to finish with an 861 to hold off No. 21 Dixie State by eight-strokes and win the 16-team star-studded field. CSU Monterery Bay, currently No. 8 in the national rankings, finished third and No. 10 Simon Fraser was 5th. The Mustangs also bested fellow RMAC schools UC-Colorado Springs (4th), Colorado School of Mines (10th), CSU-Pueblo (13th) and Regis (16th).
Sophomore All-American Harry Wetton (Bedford, England/The Bedford School) went down the stretch with Frederik Jullum from CSU-Monterey Bay and Zach Tripp from UCCS as the trio were trading or tying leads throughout the day. Wetton continued his strong play coming away with a pair of birdies and ended up shooting an even 72 during the final round to win the individual title by a stroke. He bested a field of 88 golfers, including 12 ranked inside the top-100 by Golfstat. Wetton added rounds of 67 and 70 from the first day to card a 209. His first round 67 was still tied for the low round of any golfer during the tournament. Wetton’s name was all over the top stats as he utilized a second-best birdie tally of 13, along with 35 pars. When it came to par scoring, he was in the top-four in all three. He tied for second in par-five (4.33), tied for third in par-four (4.00) and tied for fourth in par-three (3.08).
Thomas Neve (Epsom, England/Cams Hill School/Merrist College) was right behind, shooting nearly the same score in all three rounds. He opened with a 71 and after back-to-back rounds of 70 he carded a 211 to tie for fourth. Neve posted several red numbers during his final round, including a pair of eagles and two birdies. Neve’s two eagles tied him for first in the field and he also added 10 birdies and 33 pars. Like Wetton, Neve was near the top in all of the par scoring categories. He tied for third with Wetton in par-four (4.00), was third in par-five (4.42) and was tied for fifth in par-three (3.17).
Calum Hill (Kinross, Scotland/Kinross HS) trimmed three-strokes off his middle round 76 to end with a 73, coupled with an opening round 71 to card a 220 to tie for 18th. He collected two birdies on Tuesday. Hill tied Wetton with 35 pars, while adding nine birdies and was near the top in par-four scoring tying for sixth (4.10) and tying for fifth in par-five (4.58).
Ross White (Dollar, Scotland/Kinross HS) opened with a 74 and then came back with rounds of 75 to end with a 224 to land in a tie for 38th. He posted four birdies on Tuesday. He finished the tournament with 12 birdies, which was tied for third-best. He was right behind teammates Wetton and Neve in terms of par-five scoring as he landed in a tie for fourth (4.50).
Rounding out the five for the Mustangs was Deryk “Buzz” Perales. Perales made a solid climb on the final day shooting an even round 72. He added rounds of 76 and 78 for a 226 to tie for 46th. He scored a pair of birdies. Perales posted 34 pars and also added an eagle from the first day. His par-five scoring (4.58) was tied for fifth and right behind teammate White.
WNMU also had a pair of individuals in Ben Skinner (Hertfordshire, England/Lorretto Academy) and Daniel Young (Cheshire, England/Eaton Bank HS). Skinner improved each round following a first round 76, he came back with rounds of 71 and 70 to card a 217 and into a tie for 13th. Young had no score in the first round and then added scores of 78 in both the second and third rounds. Skinner utilized strong birdie play to help his best round of the tournament with four birdies. Skinner finished with 35 pars and nine birdies and was near the top in some of the par scoring. He tied teammate Neve for fifth in par-three (3.17), and tied Hill for sixth in par-four (4.10).
With the win, the Mustangs have five results all in the top-five so far this spring with this tournament and the one at the Edward Jones’ Cactus Thaw! as the other title. The Mustangs riding high with momentum from this title will now prepare for the RMAC Tournament on April 20-21 at the Golf Club of Estrella Course in Goodyear, Ariz.
