After SEC final appearance, Chadwell & Co. set sights on Bryan Regional

Texas A&M women's golf got to the SEC's championship match last week, and after finishing as the conference's runner-up, the Aggies will now gear up for the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Gerrod Chadwell joined TexAgs Radio to review and look ahead.

Key notes from Gerrod Chadwell interview

• Last night, we went to the awards deal. My daughter was asking, “What is rap music?” Not yet, sweetie. We’re big Swifties with her right now. My daughter heard “Party in the USA” for the first time recently, so that’s what we’re listening to. It’s a jam.
   
• It stinks that there is only one winner from last week. The girls were phenomenal. We looked the best from the stroke play portion. We had a couple of lulls, but we looked better than South Carolina and Auburn. We got the No. 3-seed. We had a good match with Arkansas, and it came down to Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio’s match. We drew Georgia, and we looked pretty convincing against them for a rematch with Mississippi State. I still feel like we’re the better team over them, but it’s first to three. Zoe Slaughter got her match to all-square on the 15th tee but couldn’t close the deal. We had a phenomenal week, and we’re looking forward to what’s ahead.
   
• Running the SEC Championship gauntlet is like winning a national championship. Just getting to match play is hard. I’m proud of them.
   
• Blanca Fernández García-Poggio did not make a bogey in match play. That was lost on me until we were talking about it on the plane home. She has a different gear when it comes to looking someone in the eye and having to beat them. That stat alone is why she won so convincing. Her sister is like that too. If there is going to be one winner and one loser, they are not going to lose very often. It’s a byproduct of a competitive household, but also, the Europeans, most of their junior events are match play. It’s harder for Americans to find that experience. Don’t get Blanca on a ping pong table or anything because it’s to the death with her. She helps breed confidence in everybody else. She wants to go out first and set the tone for everybody else.
   
• You’re seeing Cayetana acclimate to a team, college and independence. You’re seeing her hit her stride. I know Augusta was a big thing for her, and she didn’t play as well. Right now, she looks the part of who we recruited.
   
• Adela Cernousek was great and only lost one match. She finished in the top 10 of stroke play. Slaughter gave us something in stroke play. Jennie Park struggled, which is uncharacteristic of her. Everybody came back hungry, and you could see the fire inside of them. Last week was great. We played well and had a chance to win, but I like that we’re back here and hungry before the regional.
   
• I love the stroke play portion of the SEC Championship. One stroke can be the difference, and you have to get into top five of regionals or your season is done. At the national championship, you’re trying to get into the top eight again for a chance to win the national title.
   
• The selection show is tomorrow. The event is at 1 p.m., and Walk-On’s will be hosting the team. It’s open to the public. We’ll see who is coming to College Station. We already know that we get to sleep in our own beds, so that is nice. We don’t get many home games. Due to our fall schedule of attending so many invitationals, we didn’t get to host an event. The Bryan Regional will be the first time our young ladies get to play in front of a bunch of Aggies. We’re going to keep it as routine as possible.
   
• Between now and the regional, it is status quo for us. The golf course will chance over the next few weeks. As it warms up, it will harden up. We’ll adapt as the course does. We’ll log our reps on Traditions.
   
• The team was so confident and playing so well. Losing to Mississippi State stung them. We gave them four or five days off. We picked up Monday and got back to work. It allowed them time to process it in their own way. Some were back the next morning at the facility working on their own.