Chadwell, A&M women's golf begin NCAA Tournament at Lubbock Regional

Following Texas A&M women's golf's 10th place appearance at the SEC Championship in Florida, head coach Gerrod Chadwell joined us on Thursday's edition of TexAgs Live to preview the NCAA Tournament as the Ags were selected for the Lubbock Regional on May 5-7.

Key notes from Gerrod Chadwell interview

• I think it's really no different than any sport. It’s the body of work that gets you to the Selection Show yesterday. We’ve had a lot of growth with the ladies this semester. We are excited to take on this experience. We get to go to Lubbock for the NCAA Regionals, so we are excited for that.
   
• The ‘x’ is very small in what you can control. We've seen that good golf is good enough. Just know it's a three-round deal and not 18 holes. It's golf. We don't have to be anybody that we're not. We help what we can control. It's just imagining scenarios to make sure they're prepared.
   
• Now, the thing that's new that men's golf has had for a while is the .500 rule. Our income and losses have to be above 50 percent. We've had good programs — Clemson, Kentucky and Alabama — not eligible for postseason. First and foremost, you have to be above .500, and it's a ranking throughout the year. They use the word magic number, I think ours is somewhere in the top 50. Then you have your automatic qualifiers. There are maybe 12 out of 16 in the SEC and the NCAA postseason.
   
• I was talking to someone this morning about how the SEC Championship is similar to a national championship for us. I told the girls that it was their first experience, but you go to the regional championship, and it looks like an abnormal tournament for us. They played great yesterday. You look and see Texas and Vanderbilt in last place and next to last, and so are the teams who could win a national championship. You can't have a bad day in an SEC Championship and expect to advance.
   
• When Texas went up, I thought we would too, based on rankings. There's no one we haven't gone toe-to-toe with this year. I’m really excited to see our former assistant Giovana Maymon here at Arizona. We are trying to go out there and finish in the top five. We don't play defense. We take care of ourselves and make sure we are the best version of ourselves.
   
• They had a really good fall. They had their moments this spring. It’s an amazing experience and will propel you into the postseason. We had some time where Maymon was like, “Oh, I see what you went through. I see your struggles, and now I have them too.”
   
• In Lubbock, you can expect some wind, but that's good. We've had a windy spring, so we've had some reps in that. It's pretty flat. But it's what you'd expect. You have to dodge some tumbleweeds here and there. We will take a break on Friday and then prepare Saturday and Sunday to let it rip a week from this Monday.
   
• Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio seems like she's a lot older than a sophomore. I told her I don't know if we or I am rubbing off on you, or if you are getting old. She's turning into a great leader. She got to learn good and bad and has been a quiet presence for us. It's nice. We know we can depend on her. This young lady came in No. 2 ranked in the world. She has a lot of experience last a very high level. It doesn't phase her, it's helping her manage the day-to-day. She's very far from home, and it's us helping her manage so she can do what she's doing.
   
• I was with Vanessa Borovilos in Houston, and she earned a spot in the Chevron Championship. She looks like a professional. The build, the confidence. It’s crazy because there's even room for growth this year. It's nice to depend on her, even as a freshman. She's not a freshman anymore, and it's just an exciting time to be around our program.
   
• The experience from playing in the SEC Championship will help at the NCAA Regional and the national championship. These ladies are behind the girls with all these reps. It should make today better and the summer better.
   
• In the SEC championship, we had one bad round and finished 10th. You can't have a bad round, and if you do, it can't be that bad. We fought our way to third and didn't finish it off. When we didn't get a good start, it was not a panic, but uncomfortable. That match play line, it feels different. You don't want to be cheesy and say it means more, but a shot has a little more importance than it did in October or February. I think those experiences propel you through all this stuff.
   
• The margin of error is crazy. You get into match play, and anything can happen. If you're trying to get one or two seeds, you'll find yourself with some cushion. Just learning a lesson, and we haven't changed what we are working on. We just keep improving. Spring is crazy.
   
• We have a big fundraiser tomorrow at Traditions Golf Club. It's not too late to sign up through our website. Then we catch our breath on the weekend. Next week is preparing and getting them through finals and everything, then the NCAA Tournament, then we have our banquet.
   
• This group gets along. This time of the year is hard because I'm a baseball guy. I really enjoyed going with my daughter to Trisha Ford's games and watching them compete. There's a difference between interested and invested. We have a lot of coaches who are both. We are all fans, and we all love sports. Anything we can do to show up or help a team at a visit is good.
   
• It's a different feeling with this group because of what we've gotten used to for the past few years. We talked about experiences from years one, two and three. Those players left. It's this group's turn to get all these experiences. No one says they can't go to the national championship. We heartily view ourselves as we belong.
   
• It was a different year in a sense. With the loss of Adela Cernousek, we only have six girls. The thing is being intentional about competition. We qualified with 11 every week, and the lineup changed for the first eight to nine events. The five started to separate themselves, and they didn't play well in the SEC. However, they then went to regionals and played well there. There are a lot of similarities because there are a lot of transfers with that bunch.
   
• The House v. NCAA settlement was already supposed to be decided, and the landscape of college athletics is changing. I think what's hard for us is being in charge of the young ladies' path. This decision dramatically affects the way you want to provide these athletes the best experience possible. Time is going and graduation is happening, and seasons are ending. If you told me they are going to get it right, I’d say to take as long as you need to. With these decisions you make, you won't turn back. When we recruit them, it's not a four-year decision. It's a 40-year decision. That's the thing, being in it for the right reason.