UNM MEN'S GOLF
Thayer Plewe latest Lobo to be named Mountain West Freshman of the Year
UNM set to tee off in NCAA Bryan Regional on Monday
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Ahead of their biggest meet of the year, the Lobos got a little conference recognition.
New Mexico freshman golfer Thayer Plewe was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year on Friday.
The seventh Lobo to earn the honor, the Cortez, Colorado, native is ranked 218th in the NCAA rankings. He finished in the top 10 twice this season, most recently posting a tie for eighth at the Mountain West Championship.
Plewe is the first UNM men鈥檚 golfer to earn the conference鈥檚 freshman of the year award since Carson Herron in 2022.
Along with Plewe, Mesa Falleur, Johnnie Clark and Emil Albers also earned All-Mountain West honors, tying a program record for Lobos to finish on the same all-conference team.
The three all won at least one event this season.
Falleur claimed wins at the Windon Memorial and the Goodwin, while Clark and Albers won the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate and the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, respectively.
UNM last had four All-Mountain West selections in 2013, when Victor Perez, Gavin Green and John Catlin and James Erkenbeck were honored.
The Lobos set to tee off in the NCAA Bryan Regional on Monday. Hosted at Traditions Club (Texas A&M) in Bryan, Texas, the top five teams from the three-day tournament will advance to the NCAA Division I Golf Championship (May 29-June 3) at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
The fourth-seeded team in the regional, UNM will compete in a field featuring top-seeded Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and UNLV. The Lobos fell to the Rebels in a Mountain West Championship playoff without Falleur 鈥� UNM鈥檚 top-ranked golfer 鈥� earlier this month.
Falleur will be available for the regional after back soreness kept him out of the league championship.
鈥淲e just need one of the five spots,鈥� coach Jake Harrington said last week. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be nice to get another crack at them with our top five guys. But in reality, we鈥檙e not competing against UNLV. We鈥檙e competing against ourselves. And as long as we show up the right way and we execute our game plan, we feel like we can beat anybody.鈥�
While Traditions Club, a par-72, 7,146-yard Jack Nicklaus design, is known for being tight off the tee, Harrington said he believes his team fits the course.
鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e one of the best ball-striking teams in the country,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got guys with a lot of firepower, guys that hit great irons, guys that are great with the driver in their hands.
鈥淎nd Traditions Club exploits everything. 鈥� It鈥檚 gonna be a good test for everybody that鈥檚 involved there.鈥�
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
