NM State Golf Battles on Opening Day of NB3 Match Play-Watch Day Two on Peacock

Aggie men on top of leaderboard after first day of play.

Source: NMSU Athletics
Photo by Sam Wasson for NMSU: Courtesy

How To Watch:

LIVE ON THE GOLF CHANNEL AND PEACOCK
Live coverage of the NB3 Matchplay will air on the Golf Channel and Peacock:

Tuesday: 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. MST
Wednesday: 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. MST

The NM State men’s and women’s golf programs traveled north on Tuesday to compete in the much-anticipated NB3 Matchplay event at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

In the unique format, the Aggies find themselves in third place with a total of 8.0 points on the combined leaderboard which takes in scores from both the men’s and women’s teams. In total, the Aggies matched up against seven players currently ranked inside the top 30 the World Amateur Golf Rankings. In those matches, the Aggies were able to earn a share of the point in three matches and the full point in one as Javier Delgadillo knocked off No. 15 Tommy Morrison who became the first American ever to win the European Amateur Championship this summer.

The men showcased their skills to wrap up the day in sole possession of first place on the men’s leaderboard with 6.5 total points. The day was highlighted by earning 4.5 points out of a possible 5 points in their afternoon match with Power Four program Stanford.

The Aggie women earned a total of 1.5 points on Tuesday and are currently in a tie for third with New Mexico. This means the Aggies will have a head-to-head matchup with the Lobos on Wednesday that will ultimately serve as a third-place match between the rival programs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies opened the day matched up against SEC foe Texas and came away with 2.5 combined points as they earned a pair of wins on the men’s side and a tie on the women’s side. Javier Delgadillo paved the way with a commanding 3&2 win over Tommy Morrison as he jumped out to a one-hole lead after two holes and never looked back. Following a bogey on the opening hole, Delgadillo played flawless golf for the ensuing 15 holes – tallying 12 pars and a trio of birdies to work his way to a victory with two holes remaining.

Meanwhile, senior Ethan Klose put together an impressive stretch to play his way to the Aggies’ most lopsided win of the day – closing out the match against Texas’ Luke Potter after just 15 holes. Like Delgadillo, Klose put a slow start behind him to earn the full point. After double bogeying the opening hole, Klose recorded three birdies and 11 pars while his playing partner turned in just one birdie during the stretch.

Isa Laulhé earned the first points for the women’s team as she battled to a tie against the Longhorns’ Lauren Kim who entered the day as the No. 28 ranked amateur player in the world. Against Kim, Laulhé found herself with a three-hole lead after just four holes and used this fast start to emerge with the half point.

Following the morning round versus Texas, NM State returned for an afternoon meeting with Big Ten opponent Stanford who has won two of the last three national championships on the women’s side and nine total national titles on the men’s side, including one as recent as 2019.

On the men’s side, the Aggies saw four of its five matches reach the 18^th hole with the point from only match going final in fewer than 18 holes belonging to the Crimson and White. In the first match for the men, Aidan Thomas displayed an impressive level of resilience as he found himself trailing by three holes with just four to play against the Cardinal’s TK Chantananuwat. Thomas then took advantage of a bogey by Chantananauwat on 15 before recording birdies on both 16 and 17 to draw even before reaching the 18^th tee box. With both players scoring a par on 18, Thomas would earn the unlikely split point while generating some momentum for the Aggies.

In the same pairing, junior Emma Bunch also earned a half point as she went toe-to-toe with No. 15 Paula Martin Sampedro. In the match, Bunch generated a three-hole lead through just seven holes, however the talented Martin Sampedro was able to battle back to tie things up on hole 14. Bunch retook the lead with a birdie on hole 16, but Martin Sampedro proved up to the task as she was able to gain the edge on 18 – giving the Aggies a share of the point.

The following pairing consisted of Javier Delgadillo and Isa Laulhé for the Aggies. Delgadillo continued his impressive day as he jumped out to a two-hole lead over Stanford’s Jay Leng after just five holes. Leng would eventually fight his way back and would carry a one-hole advantage into the 16^th hole, however, Delgadillo would string together three consecutive birdies to take control of the match and earn a full point for the Aggies. This stretch included a lengthy putt on 18 that solidified the point.

Meanwhile, Delgadillo’s partner, Isa Laulhé, also earned points for the Aggies as she split the point with Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta who entered the day as the top-ranked individual on the women’s side – coming in at No. 6 on the WAGR. Laulhé took advantage of a bogey by Revuelta on the second hole and eventually took a two-hole lead after seven holes. Revuelta eventually claimed a two-hole lead of her own four holes later, however, Laulhé stood her ground and ultimately won the 18^th hole to earn the split.

The men’s outstanding day continued over to the next match as Vari Mariscal created a gap between him and Stanford’s Ethan Gao after just two holes. Mariscal would eventually lead by as much as three holes and would never relinquish the lead despite a late push that drew Gao within one point entering final hole.

After a dominant win in the morning, Ethan Klose would solidify his day with another lopsided victory in the afternoon as he took down Stanford’s Logan Kim – winning 3&2. After going back-and-forth with Kim, Klose used an eagle on hole 12 to propel himself to the victory.

Lastly, the final match involving an Aggie also reached the 18^th after an improbable comeback from Alexandre Bauduin. Bauduin fell behind on the third hole and trailed for almost the entirety of the match before earning a win on 17 to extend the match and force an deciding final hole. On the 18^th, Bauduin watched his opponent miss a short par putt before stepping up to knock down a par putt of his own to win the match and close out the day for the Aggies.

Match One
Men | NM State 2, Texas 3
No. 14 Christiaan Maas def. Aidan Thomas 2UP
Daniel Bennett def. Mateo Payán 4&3
Javier Delgadillo def. No. 15 Tommy Morrison 3&2
Jack Gilbert def. Vari Mariscal 2&1
Ethan Klose def. No. 49 Luke Potter 4&3

Women | NM State 0.5, Texas 4.5
No. 45 Cindy Hsu def. No. 84 Emma Bunch 1UP
Isa Laulhé tied No. 28 Lauren Kim
Angela Heo def. Kaylee Chen 1UP
No. 19 Farah O’Keefe def. Marley Moncada 3&2
Selina Liao def. Emma Thompson 1UP

Match Two
Men | NM State 4.5, Stanford 0.5
Aidan Thomas tied No. 62 TK Chantananuwat
Javier Delgadillo def. Jay Leng 2UP
Vari Mariscal def. Ethan Gao 2UP
Ethan Klose def. Logan Kim 3&2
Alexandre Bauduin def. Nathan Wang 1UP

Women | NM State 1.0, Stanford 4.0
Emma Bunch tied No. 15 Paula Martin Sampedro
Isa Laulhé tied No. 6 Andrea Revuelta
Leigh Chien def. Marley Moncada 5&4
No. 21 Meja Örtengren def. Emma Thompson 4&3
No. 38 Kelly Xu def. Kaylee Chen 5&4

UP NEXT
Wednesday, the Aggies will return to Twin Warriors Golf Club for a final match against rival New Mexico. The two sides are scheduled to tee off at 10:05 a.m. MT with the Aggies’ Emma Bunch and Aidan Thomas getting things underway from the first tee box. Fans interested in following along can do so via the live leaderboard or by tuning in to the Golf Channel beginning at 4:30 p.m. MT.

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.