NM State Men Finish Eighth at Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational

NM State wrapped up its second tournament of the season as they played through the final round of the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational at the Colorado National Golf Club. After 54 holes, NM State secured an eighth-place finish among the 19-team field after posting a final-round score of 282 (-6) to submit a total score of 851 (-13). This marked a 27-stroke improvement from their season-opening tournament.

For the second consecutive event, junior Javier Delgadillo turned in the best individual performance by an Aggie as he shot 2-under for the final round to move two spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 10^th place after posting a 54-hole score of 209 (-7). With a score of 70 in the final round, Delgadillo has now come in under par in five of his six rounds this season. The 10^th-place finish was also the sixth of his three-year career with the Aggies and first since he finished tied for fifth at the Border Olympics in late February of this year.

Meanwhile, Vari Mariscal and Aidan Thomas were one of four players in the field to conclude their week with a total score of 213 (-3) which left them in a tie for 32^nd. Mariscal carded a 70 (-2) on Wednesday to advance five spots on the leaderboard as he finished his first tournament of the season. Thomas finished his tournament with a 72 (E) in the final round to mark his third round of the season at par or better.

Freshman Mateo Payán ended his week in a tie for 69^th after posting a 74 (+2) on Wednesday to bring his 54-hole score to 220 (+4). Ethan Klose saved his best for last as he posted a 70 (-2) in his final round of the week to make the largest jump of any Aggie – moving up 15 spots on Wednesday. Klose ultimately finished with a total score of 221 (+5) to end in a tie for 72^nd in his first appearance of the season.

BY THE NUMBERS

• NM State ended the week with scoring averages of 3.23 (+14) on par 3s, 3.97 (-4) on par 4s and 4.77 (-14) on par 5s.
• The Aggies carded a total of 174 pars at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational which ranked fifth-most among the 19 programs that competed.
• After not having any eagles in the first two rounds, both Javier Delgadillo and Vari Mariscal submitted an eagle on Wednesday to bring the team total to two on the week. Delgadillo’s eagle came on the par-4 17^th which played as the second-easiest hole this week. Meanwhile, Mariscal earned a three on the par-5 12^th which finished the week as the easiest hole on the course. Between the 17^th hole and 12^th hole, the field managed 25 total eagles this week.
• Aidan Thomas finished as the top-scoring Aggie on par 3s – averaging 3.08 strokes per par 3 while finishing 1-over for the week.
• Javier Delgadillo, Vari Mariscal and Aidan Thomas each found success on the par 4s this week as Delgadillo averaged 3.83 strokes per par 4 while Mariscal and Thomas posted an average score of 3.90 for the week.
• Mateo Payán ranked tied for first among the field in total pars as he was one of just three players this week to record 40 pars. Vari Mariscal was also near the top of this list as he was tied for fourth among the field with 39 pars.

TEAM LEADERBOARD

Pos.	Team	R1	R2	R3	Total (To Par)
1	Colorado State	282	276	270	828 (-36)
2	Colorado	275	274	283	832 (-32)
3	St. Mary’s (CA)	268	286	279	833 (-31)
4	Wyoming	278	281	276	835 (-29)
5	UTEP	285	272	283	840 (-24)
6	Utah	285	281	277	843 (-21)
7	Boise State	287	278	281	846 (-18)
8	NM State	285	284	282	851 (-13)
9	Utah State	285	289	282	856 (-8)
10	Denver	289	285	285	859 (-5)
11	Tarleton	284	288	288	860 (-4)
12	Northern Colorado	290	284	291	865 (+1)
T13	Creighton	289	289	291	869 (+5)
T13	CSU Fullerton	282	293	294	869 (+5)
15	Valparaiso	294	286	295	875 (+11)
16	Air Force	295	292	290	877 (+13)
17	Central Arkansas	295	295	300	890 (+26)
18	Colorado School of Mines	301	294	297	892 (+28)
19	Southern Utah	308	304	299	911 (+47)

AGGIE SCORES

Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	Total (To Par)
T10	Javier Delgadillo	69	70	70	209 (-7)
T32	Aidan Thomas	73	68	72	213 (-3)
T32	Vari Mariscal	69	74	70	213 (-3)
T69	Mateo Payán	74	72	74	220 (+4)
T72	Ethan Klose	74	77	70	221 (+5)

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