Following a couple weeks of rest, Texas A&M women’s golf is looking like a brand new team. The Aggies hit the course for LSU’s Tiger Golf Classic and put on a show unlike anything all season.
A career-best 67 from junior Brooke Tyree on the final day helped vault the Aggies (297-291-288—876) to a fourth place finish in the final tournament of the regular season. The unranked Aggies placed ahead of six teams in the Golfstat.com top-25, including No. 5 Florida State. The momentum will be put to the test as the team heads into the SEC Tournament April 14.
After struggling with putting on Tuesday, Tyree said it all came together at just the right time.
“I felt really comfortable today,” Tyree said. “I made a putt on my third hole to save a par, and after that it felt like I could make all of the putts. I was really seeing the lines well.”
Tyree (76-73-67—216) bounced back from her worst performance of the season and responded with the highest finish of her career, coming in tied for sixth. This was the third top-10 finish of her career and first this season. Her 5-under 67 was the second-lowest round of any player throughout the tournament and the lowest of the third round.
“I was staying in my own game out there, but I was hoping we could all pull it together at the same time and shoot a good round,” Tyree said.
Tyree’s big day led the Aggies to their first even round of the season.
“It was really great to see us stay in the game,” A&M coach Andrea Gaston said. “This was by far our best performance of the season. We know that every player on the team can compete, but we just haven’t been posting the numbers.”
Courtney Dow (75-70-74—219) finished the day tied for 16th. The senior locked in her second top-20 finish of the season and the 14th of her career. Dow tied for the team lead with 11 birdies during the tournament, while carding 33 pars.
Blanca Fernández García-Poggio (72-77-73—222) and Amber Park (75-71-76—222) both tied for 27th and gave the Aggies a combined five birdies and a crucial eagle in the final round to help keep A&M in the top-five. Ava Schwienteck (75-77-74—226) came in tied for 45th and also tied for the team lead in birdies with 11.
“It was exciting to see the birdies and for us to get off to a great start,” Gaston said. “We told them to go out and play aggressive. We strategized how to play each hole and made sure we were respectful of the speed on the greens. They handled the conditions really well.”
The 14-team field included 12 SEC schools, missing just Missouri and No. 1-ranked South Carolina. In their final event before the SEC Tournament, the Aggies proved they are capable of making noise against highly ranked opponents.
“We came off our last round at Georgia and now three rounds here that were all pretty solid, so I feel pretty good heading into SECs next week,” Tyree said.
The Aggies are scheduled to tee off at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on April 14 as they look to be crowned SEC champions for the first time since 2015.