ERIE, Colo. – The NM State men's golf team hit the links for its second tournament of the season as they opened play at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo. The Aggies currently sit in eighth place among the 19-team field after posting a 285 (-3) in the first round and a 284 (-4) in round two to conclude the day seven strokes under par with a total score of 569. Although, darkness fell before all teams could complete their second round and play was suspended due to lack of sunlight despite only 10 of the 19 teams still remaining on the course. In total, 28 players will need to finish one hole on Tuesday morning before beginning their final round.
 
Currently, NM State sits three strokes ahead of former WAC foe Tarleton while also ending the day in better position than four Colorado-based programs (Northern Colorado, Denver, Air Force and Colorado School of Mines). The Aggies will begin Tuesday just nine strokes off of fifth place.
 
Individually, the Aggies were led by junior Javier Delgadillo who tallied a total of 11 birdies across 36 holes to find himself hovering inside the top-10 for much of the day. The El Paso, Texas, native ended his day 5-under-par (69-70) to walk off the course in a tie for 12^th place with a total score of 139. Delgadillo's opening-round 69 marked the first time this season that he has scored in the 60s.
 
Meanwhile, Aidan Thomas' day was a tale of two rounds as he bounced back from a tough first round in which he shot a 73 (+1) to end the round in a tie for 53^rd. Thomas remained composed and responded with a 68 (-4) in the second round. Thomas also recorded just one bogey in the second 18 while tallying four birdies and 13 pars to climb 29 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 24^th after his second round in the 60s this season.
 
Sophomore Vari Mariscal earned a spot in the Aggies' lineup for the first time this season and currently ranks third among Aggies and is in a tie for 38^th on the individual leaderboard after heading into the clubhouse as one of just 46 players to end their day in the red. Mariscal's first-round 69 (-3) marked the third-lowest round of his career and placed him in a tie for 10^th after 18 holes. Mariscal would later shoot a 74 (+2), however he still remains in the top half of the leaderboard.
 
Mateo Payan and Ethan Klose rounded out the group of Aggies as Payan currently sits in a tie for 64^th with a score of 146 (+2) while Klose is tied for 88^th with a score of 151 (+7).
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• NM State recorded an average score of 3.18 on par 3s, 4.02 on par 4s and 4.78 on par 5s. This ranked seventh, 10^th and 10^th among the field, respectively.
• In total, the five Aggies tallied 114 pars and 34 birdies on the day.
• Aidan Thomas' day was highlighted by his performance on par 3s as he tallied two birdies to end the day 1-under and with an average score of 2.88 on par 3s.
• Similarly, Javier Delgadillo did his damage on the par 5s as he finished an impressive 5-under while averaging a score of 4.38 across the eight par 5s he played on Monday.
• Delgadillo also paced all Aggies with 11 birdies which was also good for second-most among the 104-man field during the first two rounds of play.

 
TEAM LEADERBOARD

Pos.	Team	R1	R2	Total (To Par)
1	Colorado	275
2	St. Mary's (CA)	268
3	Colorado State	282
4	UTEP	285	272	557 (-19)
5	Wyoming	278
6	Boise State	287	278	565 (-11)
7	Utah	285
8	NM State	285	284	569 (-7)
9	Tarleton	284	288	572 (-4)
T10	CSU Fullerton	282
T10	Utah State	285	289	574 (-2)
T10	Northern Colorado	290	284	574 (-2)
13	Denver	289
14	Creighton	289	289	578 (+2)
15	Valparaiso	294
16	Air Force	295	292	587 (+11)
17	Central Arkansas	295	295	590 (+14)
18	Colorado School of Mines	301	294	595 (+19)
19	Southern Utah	308

 
AGGIE SCORES

Pos.	Player	R1	R2	Total (To Par)
T12	Javier Delgadillo	69	70	139 (-5)
T24	Aidan Thomas	73	68	141 (-3)
T38	Vari Mariscal	69	74	143 (-1)
T64	Mateo Payan	74	72	146 (+2)
T88	Ethan Klose	74	77	151 (+7)