The Texas A&M women’s golf team has built a tradition of strong starts to the season under coach Gerrod Chadwell. This weekend, the Aggies continued that trend with a fourth-place finish at The Carmel Cup at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
A&M logged top-four performances at its previous three season-opening tournaments under Chadwell, who enters his fourth season leading the program. The Aggies carded a 35-over 1,115 in the eight-team field that featured four other SEC teams. Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Mississippi State each finished ahead of A&M by eight strokes or more.
Senior Adela Cernousek continued her own string of personal success with sixth place at 1-under 215. Last season’s NCAA Individual Champion has registered a top-six finish in her past six collegiate tournaments.
Sophomore Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio joined Cernousek in the top 10, tied for seventh with an even par of 216. With 1-under 71 showings in the final two rounds, Fernández García-Poggio put together the best finish of her collegiate career.
“Glad we got the first tournament of the year under our belt, and now we know where we are at,” Chadwell said. “It is a long season, but we have some things from this tournament that we can go back and work on. There was a lot of good things this week as well, and we have a group that is willing to work hard.”
The Aggies shot their best round at the start of the tournament Friday, posting an 8-under 368. Cernousek led the way at 4-under 68 while freshman Vanessa Borovilos, the third-ranked player in the 2024 class, shot an even 72. Borovilos finished in a tie for 12th at 6-over 222 in her collegiate debut.
The course played tougher over Saturday and Sunday, with A&M logging an 11-over 371 and 16-over 376, respectively. On the final day, Cernousek dropped three spots to sixth place while Borovilos fell one spot. Fernández García-Poggio, on the other hand, rose two spots to a tie for seventh.
Senior Lauren Nguyen added a 13-over 229 performance while juniors Mia Nixon and Kynadie Adams rounded out the Aggies as they each tied for 36th at 20-over 236. Adams made her A&M debut after spending the past two years at Alabama. Nixon added a hole-in-one Saturday on the 180-yard hole No. 12.
“We are nowhere near where we are going to be come April and May, so to be able to be in a competitive environment like this early on in the year is all you can ask for,” Chadwell said. “We can’t wait to get back out there in a couple of weeks.”
The Aggies are back in action Sept. 20-22 at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tennessee.
