Oct. 20, 2008

2008 Lobo Day Clinic Photo Gallery

Monday: New Mexico Men's Golf Lobo Day Tournament at the UNM Championship Course

Up next: Oct 27-28 at Baylor Invitational

By Richard Stevens Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

When a golf clinic features PGA pro and ex-Lobo Tim Herron, you use the term "clinic" loosely.

With "Lumpy" around, the clinic is more like a Las Vegas lounge act. It's a series of one-liners with some dead-on imitations tossed in to please the crowd. And Herron definitely pleases the crowd.

"It's the Tim Herron show," said Kent Jones, another PGA pro and ex-Lobo golfer.

The golfing group that gathered at the UNM Championship Course Monday morning for the University of New Mexico Lobos Alumni fund raiser knew the score, too.

When Herron went to his bag to pull out a wood to demonstrate the long ball, the request for Herron's imitations forced Herron to drop the wood and step onto the stage, er, driving range, with an iron in hand.

Herron did his Lanny Wadkins, his Raymond Floyd, his Arnold Palmer and his Fuzzy Zoeller. The act was hilarious.

"Tim is a classic," said Jones. "Maybe I need to learn some (imitations), but I could never do that good. It's not always a lot of real helpful information, but we have a lot of fun out here and that's the most important thing."

You almost expected Herron to end the Monday morning clinic with a quick magic act, but maybe Herron used up his allotment of magic on Sunday when he fired a 62 to tie for sixth place in the PGA event held in Las Vegas. Herron left Sin City a winner. He pocketed $142,475; a pot he probably ought to split with his wife.

"The only reason why I played Vegas this year is because my wife likes going to Vegas," said Herron. "It's kind of like our getaway, just the two of us."

Herron says he looks at a golf clinic more as "rubbing shoulders and having a good time."

"In golf," he said, `it's kind of hard to give a clinic and maybe help someone out. To really help a player, you have to go one-on-one with them and see what they are doing. There are a few things that they can be made aware of that might help their game. Alignment. Things like that. Other than that, we just kind of ham it up."

Herron, Jones, Tommy Armour III and Michael Letzig were the four featured pros Monday in the alumni event geared to raise money for the UNM golf team. All four golfers are former Lobos.

"UNM is where I played my college golf and that's always special to you," said Armour III. "This is just something you want to do."

Armour III is having one of his best season on the PGA Tour in the money column. He has earned close to $9 million in a career that began in 1981 and has pocketed almost $1.5 million this year behind four Top Ten finishes.

"I'm having a whole lot of fun and I'm making some putts," said Armour III.

Herron said he tries to be an advocate for Lobo golf whenever he has the opportunity because he thinks UNM is a special place to learn golf because of the facility (UNM's Championship Course) and the New Mexico weather.

Herron said when people ask him where he played his college golf, he answers: "I went to UNM. Ivy League of the Southwest."

"It's a great school," he said. "It's a great place for a kid to come who might not be an Ivy-League scholar. I think why it's a good spot is because you get a lot of weather that is different. You learn to play in the wind."

Herron turned pro in 1993. He has made about $15 million in his career and is $2 million-plus in 2008.

The ex-Lobo golfer looking at the most pressure in 2008 is Letzig, who is in his rookie season on the PGA Tour. Letzig has made $858,477 so far in 2008 and has four Top Ten finishes. But the PGA rookie says he isn't on tour to watch other guys grab the big check.

"My goal all year was to be in contention to win," said Letzig. "I've had four Top Ten finishes, but I haven't had a chance to win yet. That's the goal. I want to hopefully, in the last three tournaments, give myself that chance."

Letzig said he hasn't necessarily felt pressured playing at the PGA level, but rather has felt pressure just to perform up to his expectations.

"They are still just golf tournaments for me," he said. "Whether it's college, the mini-tour, or PGA. The same things go out there. But there is such great competition out there. So, you work hard every day. You practice every day. You go to the gym every day. You work hard and you expect results and when they aren't there, you get a little frustrated. But I'm not worried. I'll keep working hard and I'll get there."

Editor's note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50mcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner.