Texas A&M women’s golf secured victory in its season opener, finishing the three-day tournament 13-under. With three freshmen in their lineup, the Aggies’ bold decisions paid off thanks to junior Cayetana Fernández achieving her third individual collegiate title.
For the first tournament of the season the Fightin’ Farmers traveled to the iconic Pebble Beach Resorts in California to compete in the Carmel Cup. Headed into a pool of seven teams, the Aggies hoped to pick up exactly where they left off last season.
Day 1
Teeing up first for the Aggies was freshman Natalie Yen. The No. 4 recruit in the country had a smooth front nine with a 35. However, she had a few slip ups on the back to end her first collegiate round with a 1-over, 73.
Freshman Brynn Kort followed Yen and handled an impressive first round with four birdies. Kort carded a 69 to push the Aggies up the leaderboard.
The final freshman up for A&M was Scarlett Schremmer. The Alabama native had a few missed strokes on the course during the middle of her round. Pulling herself back up to finish strong with four pars, she turned in a 76 for Round 1.
Returning for the Aggies this year is junior Sky Sudberry. She quickly turned in two birdies on the front nine, but a double on No. 12 left herself at even par after Day 1.
Behind her, sophomore Vanessa Borovilos had a rollercoaster of a round. With two birdies on the first two holes and another on Hole 6, she found herself in trouble dealing with back-to-back double bogeys to end her first nine. However, after getting herself back to even on Hole 14 with a birdie, she eagled out on Hole 18 to put herself in a tie for third at 2-under for the day.
Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio held the top spot for the Aggies. Even with the troubles of three bogeys during her round, she fought back, carding six birdies and ending her first round of the season at a 69.
As the first round came to a close, A&M found itself alone at the top of the leaderboard with a 13-shot lead. Kort and Fernández lead the individual field, tied for first place at 3-under.
Day 2
Back on the course for Day 2, the Aggies held their ground, with three Fightin’ Farmers carding another round under par to maintain their spot at the top.
Notable rounds came from Yen and Fernández, who went stroke-for-stroke with matching 35s on the front nine and 36s on the back nine. The pair each turned in a 71 for the day, with Fernández dropping down to second place and Yen moving up the leaderboard to seventh.
The biggest round of the day came from Borovilos. Without missing a beat from her previous season’s success, she carried that same momentum into this tournament. With five birdies on just the first eight holes, she shot a 31 on the front, contributing to her 3-under 69 for Round 2.
Sudberry and Schremmer held down the middle, with a 73 and 74, respectively. Sudberry was 10th and held out hope to keep fighting for a top-10 finish during the third round. Kort fell a little during Round 2 as she showed some struggles on the front nine. She finished her second round with a 79.
A&M’s lead grew as Round 2 finished up. The Aggies held a 24-shot lead and a team total of 9-under, while second place was held by Vanderbilt with a team total of 15-over.
Day 3
The Maroon and White had a commanding lead heading into the final round and continued to show their best game. With nine golfers under par across the entire field, three of them were Aggies.
Yen finished up her first collegiate tournament 3-over and tied for 14th with fellow Aggie freshman Kort. Schremmer, the last of the freshmen to compete for A&M, finished her day with an even-par round, leaving her at 6-over and earning a tie for 23rd place.
Sudberry rounded out her tournament with a 75 during Round 3, and finished in a tie for 16th place with a three-day total of 4-over.
Leading the Aggies to sweep the field was Fernández and Borovilos. In a tight race for the individual title, Fernández pulled through with the help of a birdie on Hole 17 to seal the deal in the final round, totaling to 8-under and ultimately earning the individual first.
Borovilos didn’t let her pull away easily, firing a 70 in the final round to finish 7-under for the three-day tournament. She tied for second place with Mississippi State freshman Avery Weed.
With a three-day team total of 1067, the Maroon and White were 13-under and 26 strokes ahead of second-place Vanderbilt.
A&M hopes to carry this momentum into the rest of the season. The next tournament the Aggies turn their focus to is the Folds of Honor Collegiate in Grand Haven, Michigan on Sept. 8.
