BOERNE, Texas- The No. 11 Texas A&M women’s golf team is tied for first place after shooting a 2-under 285 after the first of three rounds in the Jim West Challenge at Tapatio Springs. Maddie Szeryk shot a 6-under 66 and leads the tournament by three strokes.
“We had a team effort again today. We played pretty steady all day,” said Texas A&M head coach Trelle McCombs. “I’m so proud of Andrea Jonama and her come back after the rough start. She really showed what she was made of today. The difference was her attitude. She was so positive all day and just kept fighting.”
The Aggies are tied with Kent State after the first round at the Tapatio Springs Resort, and both are five shots ahead of the third place tie between Florida State and Texas Tech. The Aggies, who entered the tournament with the nation’s best stroke average, co-lead a field with nine teams that made the NCAA Regionals a year ago.
“Maddie Szeryk was a rockstar today,” added McCombs. “She played the golf course just like it’s meant to be played. She was very patient with herself and hit some great shots.”
Szeryk’s 66 was one stroke off the school record and her career-best. This is just the sixth round of 6-under or lower in A&M history. She is three shots ahead of three players in second place at 3-under par.
Two more Aggies are in the top 20 of the tournament after the first round.Thanya Pattamakijsakul shot an even-par 72 to tie for 13th place. Callie Scheffler shot a 73 (+1) and is tied for 17th.
Andrea Jonama rebounded from a 5-over front nine to post a 3-under score on the back nine of the par 72 / 6,373 yard course for a 2-over 74 to tie for 26th. Bianca Fabrizio and Emily Campbell, who is playing as an individual, both shot 3-over 75s to tie for 36th.
The Aggies tee off for the second of three rounds tomorrow at 9:50 a.m. Live scoring is available on BirdieFire here:https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/14943/ .