No. 4 Texas A&M women’s golf placed second in the NB3 Matchplay, 2.5 points behind Arizona in a tight race as the Aggies handed the victory to the Wildcats in the final matches.
Since their back-to-back wins in their opening tournaments, the Maroon and White have had a bit of a hiatus. With nearly a month off, they made their return to the NB3 Matchplay at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. This two-day tournament featured three rounds of matchplay against three squads.
Round 1
In the high desert heat, the Aggies faced the New Mexico Lobos in their first pairing of the day.
It didn’t take long before junior Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio put the first point on the board for A&M. Against New Mexico sophomore Chelsea Truong, she didn’t even need the full 18 to put the match out as the Spaniard went four-up with three to play.
In the second match against New Mexico senior Maria Caparrós Levin, freshman Natalie Yen impressed the veterans going into the 18th hole 1-up and finishing off the round 2-up, placing the second point on the board for A&M.
The third match featured the freshman contest, in which Brynn Kort took on New Mexico’s Ava Cepeda. Through a back and forth match, Kort was never able to get the upper-hand on Cepeda. The Lobo was 1-up through the entirety of the last three holes and Kort was never able to break through, losing the match and the point for the Aggies.
The next match introduced the newest Aggie, junior Louise Reau, who joined the campaign after playing her first two seasons with Georgia Southern and posting a 72.08 stroke average across 24 tournaments.
Reau took on sophomore Rebecca Galasso in a tight match. With a birdie on the par 5 Hole 1, Reau went 1-up and maintained her point through the last six holes, placing the clinching point on the board for the Fightin’ Farmers.
The final point during Round 1 came from freshman Scarlett Schremmer as she took on freshman Juliette Holé. Drilling a birdie on Hole 5 led her to a l-up victory over the Lobos and marked the end of Round 1, with the Aggies earning a 4-1-0 start to the tournament.
Round 2
The second round was an Aggie-on-Aggie challenge as A&M was paired up with the New Mexico State Aggies.
After taking the morning off, sophomore Vanessa Borovilos took off quickly in her opening round with three consecutive birdies on the first three holes. Ultimately leading to a 5 & 4 win against her opponent, senior Isa Laulhé, to put the first point on the board for the Maroon and White.
Reau turned in an early round as she absolutely dominated sophomore Emma Thompson through 12 holes. That was all it took for Reau to gain a 7-up lead and end the match with six to play as she placed the second point on the board to give A&M a 2-0 lead.
Turning in the winning point was Schremmer with a full 18 against junior Alexandria Armendariz. The freshman had a solid par on Hole 17, while her Aggie opponent made a bogey, putting her 1-up going into the 18th. She maintained her leverage, as she matched Armendarizs’ bogey on the final hole.
With the Maroon and White in sight of clinching the match, Yen turned in another point to top off the scoreboard as she won her match, 1-up. García-Poggio lost her match on the 16th hole to freshman Rylee Salome, putting A&M 4-1-0 against New Mexico State.
The long day came to a close with A&M well in contention to bring home a championship the following day sitting at 8 points — a single point behind Arizona — their pairing match up for Round 3.
Round 3
In the head-to-head matchup against Arizona for the championship title, the Aggies needed at least three points to share the title and four points to claim it outright.
Borovilos turned in the first point on the board against Arizona senior Angela Arora. Her par on Hole 14 put her 5-up with four to play and ended the match prematurely yet again.
Yen fell to her opponent, senior Nena Wongthanavimok, as she took a birdie on Hole 17 to go 2-up with one to play. Reau also came up short against freshman Kinsley Ni, after she holed an eagle on the 16th. Reau’s birdie on the par 5 wasn’t enough and was defeated 4-up with two to play.
The Aggies were down 2-1 to the Wildcats with two tight matches still on the course.
Schremmer held out until the 17th hole when senior Julia Misemer went up two points on Hole 16 and 17. Ending the match early at the conclusion of Hole 17, the third point went on the board for Arizona and sealed the victory for the Wildcats.
García-Poggio held junior Charlotte Back to a tie through 17 holes, enduring a neck and neck round. However, Arizona already proved their worth and showed there was no way for A&M to come back from 3.5-1.5.
The Aggies will now look forward to their next tournament on Oct. 19, as they travel to San Marcos for the Jim West Invitational.
