By Isabel Laulhé
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico State University men’s golf team will travel to Lafayette, Louisiana, on Monday and Tuesday, March 9-10, to compete in the Louisiana Classics Invitational at Oakbourne Country Club.
The 54-hole event is hosted by the University of Louisiana and will be played at Oakbourne Country Club, a course known for its challenging layout. Oakbourne has hosted PGA Tour events, attracting some of the world’s top professional golfers.
“The course looks very gettable on paper, but once you’re playing it, it definitely has its challenges,” NMSU assistant coach Mike McGilton said.
Recent rain in Lafayette could also make the 6,900-yard course play longer than usual, McGilton said.
The tournament features 15 universities, with No. 29 Texas A&M leading the field. Other teams inside the top 100 in the NCAA DI men’s golf rankings include Arkansas-Little Rock (No. 47), South Alabama (No. 67), Michigan (No. 76), Oral Roberts (No. 79), East Tennessee State (No. 86) and Southern Illinois (No. 92).
“It’s a great field for us,” McGilton said. “There are several teams ranked around us, so it’s a good opportunity to improve our ranking.”
The Aggies’ travel lineup consists of Javier Delgadillo (No. 1), Mateo Payán (No. 2), Jackson Funkhouser (No. 3), Kostka Horno (No. 4), and Ethan Klose (No. 5).
NMSU enters its third tournament of the season with confidence after finishing tied for fifth in their previous event, the Border Olympics, in Laredo, Texas.
McGilton said the team focused on improving play on the course’s most difficult holes.
“We emphasized that the harder we make things in practice, the more comfortable we will be when tournament time comes,” McGilton said.
The 54-hole event will be played over two days, with each team’s top four scores counting towards the total result.
“When it comes to handling pressure, the nerves will be there, you just have to accept them,” Horno said.
Live scoring will be available at Scoreboard.Clippd.com, and fans can also follow updates on Twitter @NMStateMGolf, Instagram @nmstatemgolf, and Facebook NM State Men’s Golf.
The Aggies compete next at the Arizona Thunderbirds Invitational at Tucson Country Club on March 16-17.
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