El Pasoan Posts a blistering 5-under on the Back Nine
Michael Salazar of El Paso won the 2020 New Mexico-West Texas Amateur Championship Sunday afternoon at the Horizon Club in Horizon City, Texas.
Salazar carded a see-saw 65 with six birdies and an eagle that were offset by three bogeys. But after the turn he was spectacular, with three birdies and an eagle for a back nine score of 30 on the par 70 Horizon Club course.
NMSU Aggie golfer Aiden Thomas of Bernalillo carded 34-33 with a bogey-free back nine to post a 67. He finished T2 with Javier Delgadillo of El Paso, who posted a 66 in the final round.
Five strokes separated the top six players going into the Day 3.
Greg Yellin, a University of Texas at El Paso red-shirt freshman, who finished second in the 2018 New Mexico-West Texas Amateur Championship shot a 1-over 71 to finish T4 with Ryo Harada, a former Aggie golfer, who started Day 3 with the lead. Harada, a native of Tokyo, shot a 3-over 73.
Ian Milne of El Paso shot a 2-under 68 to claim sixth place. Josh Dawkins of Albuquerque shot 2-over on Day 3 to claim seventh. Jackson Norwich of El Paso carded 67 to finish eighth, followed by Jack Anderson of Round Rock, Texas, in ninth and Zacariah Hildenbrand of El Paso in 10th.
Here Are the Three-Day Totals For the Top Ten
- Salazar, 206
- Thomas, 209
- Yellin, 211
- Harada, 211
- Milne, 212
- Dawkins, 214
- Norwich, 215
- Anderson, 217
- Hildenbrand, 218
Three-time champion Gregg Condon of Monte Vista, Colo, did not make the 500-mile trip to defend his 2019 title.
Heavy El Paso Presence in New Mexico-West Texas Amateur
The New Mexico-West Texas Amateur, the premier event of the Sun Country Amateur Golf Association, attracted a 62-player field to the venue in Horizon City just east of El Paso.
SCAGA officials who hoped that holding the event near El Paso would attract more players from the region got their wish. The top of the leaderboard was largely an all-El Paso affair. Almost half the field hails from the El Paso area.
Eighteen players from the Albuquerque Metro area made the trip south.
SCAGA covers New Mexico and El Paso County, Texas.
From the tips, the Horizon Club plays 6,886 yards with a par or 70 and a stroke rating of 72.6 and a slope of 128.
Full Day 2 results are here. The tournament wraps up Sunday.
Day 2: New Mexico-West Texas Amateur
Day 1: New Mexico-West Texas Amateur
New Mexico West-Texas Amateur Tees Off Today
New Mexico-West Texas Amateur Tees off Friday
By New Mexico Golf News staff
