Western New Mexico's men's golf team closed out its best-ever season Friday with a seventh place finish at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. The Mustangs didn't get the storybook finish they hoped for as they fell from fifth place with one round to go to a tie for seventh in the 20-team event that brings together the best teams in Division II for the season finale.
No. 3 Florida Southern took the crown with No. 11 Central Missouri finishing second. Chico State and Sonoma State finished third and fourth respectively.
The Mustangs said goodbye to seniors
Scott Crichton (Dalgety Bay, Scotland/Inverkeithing High School) and
Eric Chavez (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) who wrapped up excellent careers for WNMU. Crichton leaves the program leading almost every statistical catagory while Chavez is the only player in team history to have played in two national championships.
Crichton tied for 14th in the championship with a total score of 303 (+15) for 72 holes. Sophomore
Gordon Webb (Malta, MT/Malta High School) finished tied for 37th with 311 while
Joon Lee (Seoul, South Korea/Guildford Park Secondary) was 45th at 313. Junior
Steven Maxwell (Glasgow, Scotland/Bearsden Academy) was tied for 52nd at 315, and Chavez rounded out the scoring in 68th place at 323.
"We had a disappointing day Friday because of a slow start ... but finishing seventh is quite an accomplishment. It will give the kids something to work for next year," said WNMU coach
Kent Beatty. "We have a good program and should have many other opportunities to finish higher."
