-and-
Five-day event to start Monday morning at Texarkana Country Club.
Source: NMSU Athletics
Photo: Courtesy
TEXARKANA, Ark. – Following a regular season which ended last week in Bryan, Texas, the NM State men’s golf team will begin its postseason on Monday morning at Texarkana Country Club as it kicks off the 2025 Conference USA Championship.
The tournament will open with a three-day, 54-hole stroke play competition that is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. MT with play wrapping up on Wednesday, April 23. Qualifying teams will then compete in a two-day match play tournament beginning on Thursday, April 24, and concluding on Friday, April 25.
The Aggies will compete alongside the league’s eight other programs and will look to bring home their first CUSA title after finishing seventh one year ago. NM State will officially begin their week at 7 a.m. when Alexandre Bauduin tees off.
2025 Conference USA Men’s Golf Championship
Dates: Monday, April 21 – Friday, April 25
Location: Texarkana, Ark.
Course: Texarkana Country Club
Par/Yardage: 72/6,128 yards
Live Scoring (Stroke Play)
Live Scoring (Match Play)
AGGIE LINEUP
NM State will be represented by Aidan Thomas, Ethan Klose, Mateo Payan, Javier Delgadillo and Alexandre Bauduin while Vari Mariscal will serve as an alternate for the week. Of this group, Thomas and Payan have played in each of the Aggies’ nine events this season.
AGGIE TEE TIMES (Times listed in Mountain Daylight Time)
7:00 a.m. – Alexandre Bauduin
7:11 a.m. – Ethan Klose
7:22 a.m. – Mateo Payan
7:33 a.m. – Aidan Thomas
7:44 a.m. – Javier Delgadillo
AIDAN THOMAS
- Played in 27 of the Aggies’ 27 rounds this season and has tallied 1,939 total strokes for an average of 71.8 strokes per round.
- His best finish this year came at the UC San Diego Invitational (March 23-25 in San Diego) where he placed third (+2) to help guide the Aggies to their second team title of the season.
- Thomas’ best 54-hole score this season is a 209 (-4) which he accomplished at both the Herb Wimberly Memorial (Oct. 14-15 in Las Cruces, N.M.) and at the GCU Invitational (March 11-12 in Phoenix).
- This year, Thomas has posted five rounds in the 60s, including a season-low 66 (-6) in his first round of the season at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M.
- He has recorded seven top-25 finishes this year, including placing among the top 10 four times.
- He logged back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Border Olympics (Feb. 17-18 in Laredo, Texas) and GCU Invitational (March 11-12 in Phoenix).
- Thomas has finished as the low Aggie twice this season, doing so at the GCU Invitational and UC San Diego Invitational.
- This is his sixth year with the Aggies and first season back on the course after sitting last year out.
- This will be the first time he competes in the CSUA Championship, but has competed in the WAC Championship twice, posting a fifth-place finish as a sophomore in 2022 and a T8 finish as a junior in 2023.
- He has also twice competed in NCAA Regionals as he finished T44 in the Bryan Regional in 2022 and finished T30 in the Las Vegas Regional in 2023.
ETHAN KLOSE
- Has participated in 24 rounds this season and has tallied a total of 1,741 strokes to maintain an average score of 72.5 per round.
- His best finish came at the Border Olympics (Feb. 17-18 in Laredo, Texas) where he shot a 208 (-5) to claim the individual title in the field of 84 and included six players ranked in the top 150 at the time. Klose’s win marked the first of his collegiate career and came as result of shooting a 67 (-4) in the final round to edge out No. 50 Hunter Thomson of Michigan.
- In total, Klose has recorded four rounds in the 60s this season and did so most recently at the Arizona Thunderbirds invitational when he shot a 69 in the opening round.
- This year, he has finished as the low Aggie twice, doing so at the Arizona Thunderbirds Invite (March 17-18 in Tucson, Ariz.) and the Aggie Invitational (April 12-13 in Bryan, Texas).
- He has recorded five top-25 finishes this year, including three top-10 placements. He also finished the year with three consecutive top-25 finishes.
- Also shined in the NB3 Match Play event to help the Aggies earn the team title over Texas, New Mexico and Stanford. In the event, Klose was one of two Aggies to win all three of his matches, including defeating Texas’ Luke Potter who is currently ranked No. 47 according to Scoreboard powered by Clippd.
- This will mark the first time that Klose competes in a CUSA Championship.
MATEO PAYAN
- The true freshman is one of just two Aggies this season to compete in all 27 tournament rounds. He has amassed 1,966 strokes to average a score of 72.8 per round.
- His best finish came at the Herb Wimberly Memorial (Oct. 14-15 in Las Cruces, N.M.) where he shot a 205 (-8) to finish tied for second to help lead the Aggies to their first team title of the season.
- Payan finished as the low Aggie one time this season when he finished tied for eighth (207, -9 at the N.I.T. in Tucson, Ariz., helping the Aggies place third as a team.
- This year, he has submitted five rounds in the 60s, including shooting a 69 and 68 in the second and third round, respectively, at the N.I.T. He shot a low round of 66 in the opening round of the Herb Wimberly Memorial.
- Thus far, he has finished in the top 25 five times, including three top-10 placements. His most recent top-10 finish came at the UC San Diego Invitational (March 23-25) when he finished tied for fourth to help the Aggies claim the team title.
- This will mark the first time that Payan competes in a CUSA Championship.
JAVIER DELGADILLO
- Has played in 24 rounds this season and has recorded 1,747 strokes to maintain an average score of 74.3 per round.
- He turned his best finish of the year at the Herb Wimberly Memorial (Oct. 14-15 in Las Cruces, N.M.) when he finished tied for fourth to help the Aggies collect the team title in their home tournament.
- Delgadillo’s best 54-hole score is 207 (-6) and he has finished as the low Aggie twice this season, doing so in each of the Aggies’ first two events of the year.
- The junior has posted three rounds in the 60s this season with all three coming in the first round of the tournament.
- He began the year with four straight top-15 finishes and has finished among the top 10 twice this year.
- He was also a top performer at the NB3 Match Play event the Aggies took part in on Oct. 8-9 in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. There, he finished 3-0, including a win over the current No. 9 ranked player in the nation in Texas’ Tommy Morrison who he defeated 3&2 to help lead the Aggies to a team title over Texas, New Mexico and Stanford.
- This will be the second time that Delgadillo competes in a CUSA Championship as he finished tied for 16th in last year’s tournament. He also turned in a T6 finish in the 2023 WAC Championship as a true freshman.
ALEXANDRE BAUDUIN
- Bauduin has competed in 24 rounds this season and has recorded 1,742 strokes to hold an average score of 72.6 per round.
- He is one of two Aggies to win a tournament this season as he earned the individual crown at the Aggies’ home event – the Herb Wimberly Memorial, shooting a 202 (-11) to win the tournament by three strokes.
- Bauduin has a team-high tying total of five rounds in the 60s this season, including the lowest single-round score by an Aggie this season as he shot a 64 (-7) in the final round of the Herb Wimberly Memorial.
- Thus far, he has posted six top-25 finishes, including a trio of top-10s. Bauduin is currently on a streak of four consecutive top-25 finishes, including finishing ninth at the UC San Diego Invitational (March 23-25 in San Diego) to help lead the Aggies to a team title.
- This week, he will be playing in his second CUSA Championship as an Aggie. Last year he finished tied for 34th.
VARI MARISCAL – Alternate
- Mariscal has competed in two tournaments this season and has played in six rounds. He has tallied a total of 426 strokes to maintain an average score of 71.0 per round.
- He first competed in the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Erie, Colo.) where he finished tied for 32nd.
- Later, he recorded his best collegiate finish as he finished tied for 13th in the Aggies’ home event, the Herb Wimberly Memorial.
- This will be the first CUSA Championship that he is a part of.
THE FIELD
NM State will compete for a conference title alongside eight teams as fellow CUSA programs Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, LA Tech, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, UTEP and WKU. NM State enters the week as the highest ranked team among the field.
SCOREBOARD RANKINGS OF THE FIELD
#61 NM State
#68 Kennesaw State
#70 Sam Houston
#99 UTEP
#102 Liberty
#120 Middle Tennessee
#128 LA Tech
#129 Jax State
#179 Western Kentucky
FOLLOW ALONG
Live scoring of this week’s tournament will be provided by SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd and can be found at this link. Additionally, the match play rounds on Thursday and Friday will also air live on ESPN+ beginning at 11 a.m. MT.
For complete coverage of NM State Men’s Golf, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateMGolf), Instagram (@NMStateMGolf) and Facebook (NM State Men’s Golf). You can also follow along with Aggie Men’s Golf via NMStateSports.com.
