MEET NOTAH BEGAY

Notah Begay

NMSU Men’s Golf Team Triumphs

in the NB3 Matchplay Tournament at the Pueblo of Santa Ana Twin Warriors Golf Club

The NMSU Men’s Golf team dominated traditional rival University of New Mexico (UNM) as well as Power Four collegiate golf teams Stanford University and The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to take the men’s team title at the NB3 Matchplay Tournament at Twin Warriors.

UT Austin won the combined (men’s and women’s) title with NMSU coming in second, while UT Austin took the women’s title in a cliffhanger against Stanford.

NMSU’s participation in this prestigious event was critical to the bigger picture envisioned by professional golfer Notah Begay III, founder and sponsor of the tournament. The Albuquerque native, who is also an NBC sports analyst and founder of NB3 Consulting and the Notah Begay III Foundation, wanted NB3 Matchplay to promote New Mexico and the opportunities that abound in the Land of Enchantment.

For Begay, whose father is Navajo and mother is Pueblo, the inaugural tournament was more than just a sporting event. It was an opportunity for a Native American community to tell its own story.

The Santa Ana Pueblo’s investment in recreation, business, and job creation was on full display, sending a message to Golf Channel viewers—many of whom are influential at the national level in the corporate, political, entertainment, and business worlds. By showcasing a robust New Mexico Native community through the lens of collegiate golf, the event underscored that New Mexico is a prime destination for business.

This tournament showed off yet another undervalued aspect of our state: outstanding educational institutions. “Using the platform I have at NBC and the Golf Channel, I was excited to give the biggest New Mexico universities the chance to shine their light in a national setting,” says Begay.

Tournament contender and golf powerhouse UT Austin also shares a New Mexico connection—its men’s golf coach, John Fields, hails from Las Cruces and attended UNM, while Stanford’s New Mexico connection is as Begay’s alma mater.

Tournament proceeds support the mission of Begay’s foundation (improving the lives of Native American youth), and here the NMSU connection is strong. Two Native American golfers with ties to Begay’s foundation currently compete for NMSU—Aiden Thomas and Lance Christensen Jr. Thomas played in the NB3 Matchplay Tournament.

Begay says another benefit of the tournament was that the New Mexico student-athletes played against the best, as Stanford and UT-Austin men’s and women’s teams are at the top of the national rankings.

“These [NMSU and UNM players] found out how good they are. It’s a blessing in many ways, because you have a chance to see what the threshold to greatness is, and to ask yourself, ‘Am I good enough? If not, what do I have to do to get there?’” Begay continues: “Golf teaches you how to fail. If you can become good at failing, you can use that to figure out your next steps.”

Begay gives tremendous credit for tournament success to his partners, including the universities, Santa Ana Pueblo, Nusenda Credit Union, and especially the Golf Channel, which carried the tournament — and the message about New Mexico — into households, sports bars, and golf stores across the country.

“Through this tournament, people who have never heard of the New Mexico State Aggies learned about who you are and what we are so very proud of in this state.”