No. 5 Texas A&M women’s golf took home gold for the third time this season in the Jim West Challenge. The Aggies were firing on all cylinders, as they secured two top-five individual performances.
The Maroon and White made the quick road trip to San Marcos to compete in the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 19 and 20. Hosted by Texas State, this 54-hole challenge took place at the Kissing Tree Golf Club, a 6,111 yard, par 72 golf course set on the banks of the Texas Hill Country.
Earning two team titles and a single runner-up finish in their three tournaments of the season so far, A&M aimed to carry out the final stretch of its season on a strong note.
Day 1
With 36 holes on the horizon for Day 1, the Aggies quickly opened fire as they inched toward the top of the leaderboard right out of the gate.
No. 22 sophomore Vanessa Borovilos turned in the best rounds for the Fightin’ Farmers on Day 1. Opening her first round with an even 36 on the front nine,a 3-under back nine totaled her card to a score of 69.
The Canadian turned around posting a similar score for the second 18 of the day. Surprisingly not birdieing a single hole twice, she turned in another 3-under 69 round. By the end of Day 1, she sat in a tie for second place and well within striking distance of the top spot.
Right behind her was No. 15 junior Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio, as she birdied two of the same holes Borovilos did in Round 1, but with mistakes early on in her round she was only capable of pulling off a 1-over 73.
Improving during her second round, allowed her to keep her score in the red. Penciling in four birdies and controlling any bogeys that went down on the card, she marked up a 2-under 70. As the Spaniard’s day came to a close she was sat at 1-under par, as she closed in at the No. 10 spot on the leaderboard.
Junior Louise Reau displayed a consistent swing posting two identical rounds. The Georgia Southern transfer turned in back-to-back 74’s on the course, concluding her first stroke play tournament for the Fightin’ Farmers at 4-over.
There was not a single birdie in sight for No. 159 freshman Natalie Yen as she worked her way through 25 holes without a shot under par. During Round 1 she went back-to-back with a 39 on each nine, totaling a 78 at the conclusion of her first 18.
Making her first birdie halfway through Round 2, the rookie secured consecutive birdies on Hole 17 and 18. With a seven stroke improvement from Round 1 she was able to post a 71 and sat in 35th place.
No. 25 freshman Brynn Kort struggled during her first round with disappointing double-bogeys on three holes. She capped off her first round 8-over, a whopping eight strokes above her 72.1 scoring average from her previous tournaments.
Kort was able to get right back on track during the afternoon round. With four birdies, which allowed her to break par with a 1-under 70.
While not counting for the team, No. 58 junior Sky Sudberry competed as an individual. She didn’t draw much success during her first round, handling a sole birdie, she shot a 76. However, something lit a fire in her swing for the afternoon round. The Woodlands native turned in the lowest round of the day for the Maroon and White, firing a 68, she bounced her way back to even-par at the end of the day.
As the long 36-hole day concluded, the Aggies saw much improvement during the second round and secured a solo second place spot with a 2-under team total. Seven strokes out of the lead that No. 33 Florida State held onto, the Aggies held a two stroke lead over third place No. 19 Oklahoma.
Day 2
The Aggies had to quicken their strides with the title up for grabs as the final round unfolded.
Performing the best round of not only the day, but for the entire tournament for A&M, was García-Poggio. She fired open her round with four consecutive birdies, then proceeded to hole out an additional four throughout her round. Penciling up a 66 to cap off her performance she moved up five spots and pulled off a top-five finish as she held a sole 5th place with a 7-under total.
Able to keep her second round momentum strong, Yen held a 3-under 69 that swiped her up right into a tie for 23rd place. She concluded at 2-over in just her third stroke play tournament of her career with the Maroon and White.
Sharing the tie for 23rd place was another Aggie, as Reau finally broke through her stagnant pair of above-par rounds the previous day with a four stroke improvement in her final round. Her 2-under 70 boosted her up eight spots as she finished at a total of 2-over and sat with Yen in 23rd place.
Matching Reau’s 2-under 70 in the final round was Borovilos. While she sat in second place for the majority of the tournament, she slipped into the third spot as the curtain began to close. With her 8-under total for the two-day tournament, this marked her second top-three finish of the season.
Kort posted the only above-par round of the day for A&M as she slipped right over with a 73. She finished at the bottom of the stack as she sat at 38th place all by herself with a three-day total of 7-over.
Competing as an individual, Sudberry held her own with an even-par 72 during her final round. She finished in 20th place with an overall even-par performance.
The Seminoles were right on their tail, but the Aggies pulled ahead during the home stretch. A&M took home the team title for the third time this season by just one stroke. They managed to pull off a three-day team total of 15-under 849 while Florida State came in second place with a 14-under 850 team total.
The Aggies now have one tournament left on their slate as they compete in Waco at the Baylor One Day on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
