On Monday, Oct. 24, senior Blanca Fernández García-Poggio’s individual stroke play win earned No. 3 Texas A&M the top seed heading into Tuesday’s match play against No. 18 UCLA at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta.
Fernández García-Poggio shot 2-under-par 70 in the individual event, including a team-high five birdies and a 25-foot chip shot for an eagle on hole No. 16, according to 12thMan.com. Head coach Gerrod Chadwell told 12thMan.com the senior’s great performance in Arkansas carried over to the East Lake Club where she dominated in qualifying during the Oct. 24-26 event.
“Blanca [Fernández García-Poggio] picked up where she left off,” Chadwell said. “She was in total control on a very competitive golf course, so I am very proud of her.”
Junior Zoe Slaughter and sophomore Adela Cernousek both shot an even-par 72 and tied for second, followed by senior Jennie Park who shot 1-over 73 and tied for ninth, according to 12thMan.com. Graduate student Hailee Cooper ended the day at 4-over 76 and finished 15th, per.
On Tuesday, the Aggies faced No. 18 UCLA. Cooper tied with UCLA senior Emilie Paltrinieri, sank a chip shot for an eagle in dramatic fashion on the 18th hole and sent the Aggies to Wednesday’s championship.
“We really felt like UCLA was going to hit that par putt, so to finish off that match was dramatic and fun,” Chadwell said to 12thMan.com.
Wednesday’s championship pitted No. 3 Texas A&M against No. 24 Auburn, and the Tigers bested the Aggies 5-0. Slaughter fell to redshirt freshman Casey Weidenfeld, 3 and 1, while Cooper and Park dropped their matches, 6 and 5 and 3 and 2, respectively, per 12thMan.com. Fernández García-Poggio and Cernousek posted 4-up decisions, according to golfstat.com.
Chadwell told 12thMan.com that the team knew they would not succeed against Auburn unless they played at their best. Despite the outcome, he said he is glad the lesson is learned now versus later in the season.
“We need to have a puncher’s mentality moving forward heading into these situations,” Chadwell said. “We had a strong fall and know we have some motivation heading into the offseason.”
With fall play over, the maroon and white will make their return at the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 5-7.
Irene Robles-Ramirez is a senior English major and contributed this piece from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.