NMSU men’s golf misses cut after finishing 8th at NCAA regional

AUBURN, Alabama - The NM State men’s golf team concluded its season on Wednesday at the Auburn University Club, finishing eighth overall in the NCAA Auburn Regional.

In the third and final round, the Aggies shot a 311 (+23) to end the week at 887 (+23), while finishing ahead of five programs, including No. 36 Oregon, No. 50 TCU and No. 48 Little Rock.

The Aggies’ finish marked the program’s best finish since placing sixth at the NCAA Tempe Regional in 2013 and represents the program’s fifth top-10 regional finish in program history.

Ultimately, top-ranked and host Auburn ran away with the tournament, shooting 32 under to finish 27 strokes better than the field.

Meanwhile, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 13 UCLA, No. 37 Purdue and No. 25 Georgia Tech joined Auburn as the five programs to advance to the NCAA National Championship.

Individually, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun shot 12 under for the week to claim the individual title, while Kennesaw State’s Claes Borregaard finished tied for second (-8) to serve as the individual qualifier for the event.

Following a strong showing in the second round, true freshman Mateo Payán continued his impressive week by shooting a 74 (+2) to end the week one stroke over par and in a tie for 15th.

With his finish, Payán produced the Aggies' first top-20 finish at an NCAA Regional since Garrison Smith placed tied for 18th at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional.

Aidan Thomas closed out the week in a tie for 25th to submit the best finish at an NCAA regional of his outstanding Aggie career.

On the week, Thomas finished four-over to place alongside No. 61 William Sides of SMU, No. 147 Thomas Schmidt of Arkansas State and Chattanooga’s Camden Braidech.

Javier Delgadillo finished the week in a tie for 43rd while Ethan Klose secured a T48 finish to round out their weeks in Auburn.

Lastly, Vari Mariscal received his first NCAA Regional experience and carded an 80 (+8) in his appearance as a substitute.

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