Lobo men's golf aims for first Mountain West golf title since 2021

Mountain West Championship

May 3-5

Omni Tucson National Resort

Tucson, Arizona

In the Mountain West’s 27-year history, no men’s golf team has won more league titles than New Mexico.

The Lobos would very much like to keep it that way.

Playing as the presumptive league favorite, UNM will compete for its ninth Mountain West Championship — the last in the league’s current iteration — starting Sunday at Omni Tucson National Resort in Tucson, Arizona.

The 21st-ranked Lobos enter this weekend’s three-round tournament with eight league championships, the most of any school in the conference. But reigning four-time champ San Diego State (seven titles) could tie the Lobos before leaving for the Pac-12 this summer, a compelling conclusion to perhaps the league’s most storied rivalry.

Consider: Out of 25 Mountain West Men’s Golf Championships, UNM and SDSU have combined to win it 15 times; among current members, only UNLV (5) and Colorado State (2) have won the championship more than once.

The Lobos and Aztecs have also finished together in the top five 21 times, ending six of those tournaments as the top two teams on the leaderboard.

Of course, few remember the last time that happened like Jake Harrington. Then in his first year with UNM, the former Arkansas Little-Rock coach’s Lobos held a three-stroke lead in the final round of the 2024 Mountain West Championship before SDSU surged back to tie it in regulation.

The Aztecs went on to edge the Lobos in a playoff, one that still nags Harrington to this day. And, given the circumstances, one that adds an extra edge to this weekend.

NCAA Rankings

Last updated April 30

#21: New Mexico

#39: San Diego State

#43: UNLV

#85: San Jose State

#108: Nevada

#128: Boise State

#142: Colorado State

#158: Fresno State

#169: Wyoming

#216: Utah State

#261: Air Force

“I still think about it all the time,” said Harrington, now in his third season with the Lobos. “I want to go get these guys a ring. I want to send (seniors Mesa Falleur and Alvaro Portillo) out with a ring.

“And to be fair, I want to send San Diego State out the right way, too. They can go enjoy the Pac-whatever it’s gonna be, and they’re gonna know that we beat them (in) their final year here.”

But if SDSU has recently dominated the league championship, this very well could be the year UNM breaks back through for its first title since 2021. Ranked a league-high 21st in the NCAA rankings, the Lobos have finished top five in seven of 10 stroke play events and notched two wins across the spring and fall seasons.

Their most recent, a first-place finish at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Arizona, saw Johnnie Clark notch the first individual win of his career with a 14-under 199. The junior is one of three Lobos to win a tournament this season; Falleur and Emil Albers have won two and one, respectively, setting up UNM’s most individual titles since 2013-14.