On Wednesday, April 12, the No. 3 Texas A&M women’s golf team traveled to Hoover, Alabama and teed off on the par 72, 6,331 yard Legacy Course at the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
The lineup led by head coach Gerrod Chadwell included senior Jennie Park, junior Zoe Slaughter, sophomore Adela Cernousek, graduate student Hailee Cooper and senior Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio.
April 12-14 consisted of 54 holes of stroke play and a fight for the top eight spots on the leaderboard. The Aggies fell short on Day 1 and shot 7-over 295, tying them for 10th place along with No. 42 Tennessee and No. 16 Ole Miss.
Day 2 was plagued by heavy winds and rain, but that didn’t seem to affect the golfers. A&M shot up the leaderboard and tied for fourth place with No. 19 Vanderbilt and a score of 13-over 301.
Day 3 was filled with nerves and anticipation in the fight to advance to match-play. The Aggies shot an incredible 1-over 289 and secured the third seed in order to continue on to the match-play portion of the SEC Championship for the first time in program history.
“This is pretty cool to see how much can change in 365 days,” head coach Gerrod Chadwell said to 12thMan.com. “Last year, we were disappointed with not making match play and now we are here. This group has an even better story to write than last year’s bunch. We got better every day this week, and we are learning a lot about this course. I am excited for the team and to get more match-play experience”
On Saturday morning, the Aggies teed off against No. 21 Florida in the quarterfinals. The maroon and white stayed consistent and ultimately defeated the Gators 4-1.
Slaughter experienced a back and forth fight with her opponent, senior Marina Escobar Domingo. However, Slaughter took the first point for the Aggies, 3&2. Garcia-Poggio followed up with the second point for A&M, 4&3. Finally, Cooper secured the final point for the Aggies, 3&2.
The golfers had a brief break before moving onto the unexpectedly long semifinal match between A&M versus No. 4 South Carolina.
Cooper, 4&3, and Park, 2&1, were able to secure two points for the Aggies with ease. Cernousek and her opponent, freshman Mia Lussand, went into the 18th hole tied and then continued on to play four more holes until Lussand took the point. Slaughter also lost her point 2&1.
With just one final point up for grabs, it all came down to Garcia-Poggio and South Carolina’s senior Mathilde Claisse. Both golfers put up an incredible fight and displayed immense determination for their teams. Garcia-Poggio and Claisse went on to tie eight holes until Garcia-Poggio stole the final point to send Texas A&M to the final Championship Match.
On Sunday, the Aggies faced the No. 5 Mississippi State Bulldogs for the SEC championship final.
The Aggies started the morning off strong and did not look back, holding a steady game and leading the majority of the matchups from the start.
Park secured the first point for the Aggies 6&5 and Cooper followed right behind her with the second point, 2&1. With just one more point to secure the championship for A&M, Slaughter headed to a playoff.
Slaughter and freshman Surapa Janthamunee went head-to-head on a total of 21 holes. It all came down to a Par 3 where Slaughter made her par putt to secure the third and final point for the Aggies. A&M defeated Mississippi State 3-2 and brought home its first SEC title since 2015.
The Aggies tee off next at the NCAA Regional on May 8-10, with the location yet to be determined.