Following the first-place finish at the Desert Match Play on Jan. 22, the No. 16 Texas A&M women’s golf team returned to action on Feb. 22 for the ICON Invitational in Humble.
A&M rode the momentum of its first tournament win since 2018 by finishing fifth overall on Tuesday, rectifying its 13th place finish from a year ago in the same tournament.
A&M junior Jennie Park, 71-70-68-209, was the key to success for the maroon and white, as she gave one of the best performances of her career, tying for sixth. While maintaining a score under par for the entire tournament, Park was able to rack up 13 birdies throughout three rounds. Most impressively, Park had an almost-perfect final round, only recording one bogey to finish 7-under 209.
This tournament marked Park’s career low through 54 holes, as well as her first top-10 finish during her time at A&M.
“Jennie [Park] was solid all week and almost went bogey-free today,” coach Gerrod Chadwell told 12thman.com. “It was good to see her pick it back up where she left off in the fall. Today, we looked good but still left a lot of shots out there. I was impressed with how we held our ground and recovered from yesterday. It’s February, there are a lot of good things to take from this.”
Another strong performance was from freshman Adela Curnousek, 70-74-70-214, who finished tied for 16th. This marked Curnousek’s fourth top-20 finish of the season, expanding her already impressive freshman campaign.
The finish on Tuesday secured a sixth-straight top-five finish for A&M. Following some changes in the offseason, the Aggies have been able to turn things around this year after a disappointing 2021 campaign.
In his first year as head coach, Chadwell has turned the team around. In 2021, A&M only had two top-10 team finishes. Since Chadwell’s arrival, the Aggies have not placed lower than sixth as a team, and have become the 16th-ranked team in the country.
With four more tournaments to go before the SEC Championship, the maroon and white are looking to remain hot.
The Aggies will head to Mesa, Ariz., on March 10-13 for the Clover Cup.