LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a busy first day at the University Golf Course, NM State departed its home course with the 36-hole lead at the annual Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.
As a team, NM State finished rounds one and two a total of 20 shots below par and 15 strokes clear of the field. The Aggie lead came as a result of a first-round score of 281 and a second round score of 267.
Individually, a handful of Aggies found themselves in the top five spots as
Javier Delgadillo,
Alexandre Bauduin,
Alvaro Morales,
River Smalley and
Vari Mariscal each posted low scores through the opening two rounds of play.
As the temperature did throughout the morning,
Alexandre Bauduin got hot in the late goings of his first 18 holes – shooting four-under on holes 12-15 to help him work his way to a first round score of 66 and a lead entering the second half of the day. Bauduin eventually cooled off and would post an even 71 in the second round to enter the third and final round just two shots off the lead.
Meanwhile,
Javier Delgadillo and
Alvaro Morales saved their best golf for the afternoon as the two combined to shoot 12-under during the second round of the tournament. After finishing two-over across the final four holes of the opening round, Delgadillo completely turned his day around by starting with six birdies on the first seven holes on his second round. Ultimately, Delgadillo would finish the day with an astonishing 14 birdies and one eagle to post a 70 (-1) followed by a 65 (-6) to end Monday with a two-stroke handle on the individual lead.
Alvaro Morales had a similar day to Delgadillo, however, his turnaround was even greater as he shot a 65 in the second round to equal the low round of the day after shooting a 74 through his first 18 holes. Morales' second scorecard featured eight birdies and just a pair of bogeys. With the performance, Morales will head into the final round trailing the lead by four strokes.
The Aggies'
River Smalley also ended the day at three-under to sit in a three-way tie with Morales and
Vari Mariscal. Smalley had a steady day of play as he shot an opening round 71 before moving up the leaderboard with a 68 in the second round.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the play of
Vari Mariscal who played as an individual on Monday but will head to the first tee box on Tuesday only four shots behind the top spot. Mariscal, a freshman from Deming, N.M., managed to shoot a 67 in the second round of the day after posting a 72 in the morning.
Day One Notes
- Javier Delgadillo and Alvaro Morales each shot 65 in their second rounds. This was good for the low score of the day.
- Alexandre Bauduin posted a 66 to finish with the lowest score in the first round.
- Ethan Klose joined Delgadillo, Bauduin, Smalley and Morales to post the final qualifying score for the Aggies as he ended the day just one over par which was good for a t-16 placement entering the final round.
- As a team, NM State took advantage of the Par 5s as they shot an impressive 21 under par on the day. This was nine strokes better than the next closest team.
- NM state also played the par 4s better than any other squad – shooting one under par while Incarnate Word played them second best but shot still 18-over on the par 4s.
- With 49 birdies, the Aggies paced the field in this category while Incarnate Words 36 were second most.
- Alexandre Bauduin came up with one of the day's five birdies at the incredibly difficult eighth hole which is playing as a 495-yard par 4 this week.
Individual Scores
*Counts toward team total
| Place |
Team |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
Total |
To Par |
| 1 |
NM State |
281 |
267 |
- |
548 |
-20 |
| 2 |
Incarnate Word |
286 |
277 |
- |
563 |
-5 |
| 3 |
Abilene Christian |
286 |
285 |
- |
571 |
+3 |
| 4 |
Stephen F. Austin |
286 |
293 |
- |
579 |
+11 |
| 5 |
Western New Mexico |
288 |
295 |
- |
583 |
+15 |
| 6 |
New Mexico JC |
290 |
295 |
- |
585 |
+17 |
| 7 |
Texas A&M - Commerce |
292 |
294 |
- |
586 |
+18 |
| 8 |
Odessa College |
288 |
300 |
- |
588 |
+20 |
| 9 |
South Mountain CC |
293 |
304 |
- |
597 |
+29 |
| 10 |
Weatherford College |
304 |
294 |
- |
598 |
+30 |
| 11 |
Texas Southern |
300 |
308 |
- |
608 |
+40 |
| 12 |
Mesalands CC |
419 |
401 |
- |
820 |
+252 |
##NM State##
