THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The Texas A&M women's golf team stands in fifth place entering Tuesday's final round of the ICON Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club. The Aggies tee off at 8 a.m. on Tuesday from holes 6-10 and will be paired with No. 1 Texas and host Houston.
After 36 grueling holes on Monday, the Aggies were at 5-over par with rounds of 291 and 290. No. 5 Kent State and Purdue grabbed the day one lead at 1-over par, followed by TCU (+2), Texas (+3), Texas A&M (+5), Houston (+9), North Texas (+10), Tulsa (+13), Texas Tech (+13), Virginia Tech (+18), Kennesaw State (+19), SMU (+22), UTSA (+24) and Texas State (+30).
Four Aggies were in the top 20 on the player leaderboard with sophomore Brooke Tyree leading the way in a tie for eighth at even par for the day. Tyree, from Sulphur, La., posted rounds of 75 and 69 for her spot in the top 10. Juniors Amber Park and Ava Schwienteck and freshman Blanca Fernández García-Poggio were all tied at 19th at 2-over, while senior Courtney Dow was tied for 51st at 7-over.
Aggie head coach Andrea Gaston said:
"I saw a lot of great ball-striking today. I think our team is as good as any out there; we just need to make more putts. That was probably the biggest difference I saw. We had too many three-putts. We really need to work on that part of our game. If we can make some more birdies we're going to be right in the thick of it. I'm excited for the way our team is playing.
"We had some mishaps out there. Hats off to Courtney (Dow). I know she wasn't at her best. She hasn't been able to practice and prepare the way she normally does. But she still hung in there. That grit that she showed this afternoon after a really bad hole -- her 'bounce-back' was awesome. She hung in there with a one-under on her second nine to keep herself in it. Ava (Schwienteck) did the same thing. She got off to a bad start and then hung in there. That's a big part of this game. You're going to have the ups and downs and it's going to be a challenge. But you have to stay in it.
"Tomorrow, hopefully, we can get off to a good start, make some birdies and keep the momentum going. There's no reason why we can't at least be inside the top five and hopefully even better."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Rds. 1/2):
Follow the Action on GolfStat:
http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=20500
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.
After 36 grueling holes on Monday, the Aggies were at 5-over par with rounds of 291 and 290. No. 5 Kent State and Purdue grabbed the day one lead at 1-over par, followed by TCU (+2), Texas (+3), Texas A&M (+5), Houston (+9), North Texas (+10), Tulsa (+13), Texas Tech (+13), Virginia Tech (+18), Kennesaw State (+19), SMU (+22), UTSA (+24) and Texas State (+30).
Four Aggies were in the top 20 on the player leaderboard with sophomore Brooke Tyree leading the way in a tie for eighth at even par for the day. Tyree, from Sulphur, La., posted rounds of 75 and 69 for her spot in the top 10. Juniors Amber Park and Ava Schwienteck and freshman Blanca Fernández García-Poggio were all tied at 19th at 2-over, while senior Courtney Dow was tied for 51st at 7-over.
Aggie head coach Andrea Gaston said:
"I saw a lot of great ball-striking today. I think our team is as good as any out there; we just need to make more putts. That was probably the biggest difference I saw. We had too many three-putts. We really need to work on that part of our game. If we can make some more birdies we're going to be right in the thick of it. I'm excited for the way our team is playing.
"We had some mishaps out there. Hats off to Courtney (Dow). I know she wasn't at her best. She hasn't been able to practice and prepare the way she normally does. But she still hung in there. That grit that she showed this afternoon after a really bad hole -- her 'bounce-back' was awesome. She hung in there with a one-under on her second nine to keep herself in it. Ava (Schwienteck) did the same thing. She got off to a bad start and then hung in there. That's a big part of this game. You're going to have the ups and downs and it's going to be a challenge. But you have to stay in it.
"Tomorrow, hopefully, we can get off to a good start, make some birdies and keep the momentum going. There's no reason why we can't at least be inside the top five and hopefully even better."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Rds. 1/2):
| Place | Team/Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 291 | 290 | 581 |
| T8 | Brooke Tyree | 75 | 69 | 144 |
| T19 | Ava Schwienteck | 70 | 76 | 146 |
| T19 | Amber Park | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| T19 | Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| T51 | Courtney Dow | 74 | 77 | 151 |
Follow the Action on GolfStat:
http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=20500
###
About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.