FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Texas A&M Women's Golf makes its fall debut at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational presented by Tyson Food at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Oct. 5-7. The tournament will be broadcasted live on the GOLF Channel each day from 2:30-6:30 p.m. (CT).
"We are certainly looking forward to going to Arkansas and playing at the Blessings," Head Coach Andrea Gaston said. "It was the site of the 2019 NCAA Championship, and will obviously be a very challenging golf course. Our players have been working really hard to prepare for this tournament and they're excited to compete again. Most importantly we are glad that everyone is healthy. We are thankful that we get to have our season start and we look forward to the challenge of competing with some of the great teams in the SEC."
The field consists of all 14 Southeastern Conference women's golf programs. The invitational is a 54-hole stroke play competition, with the men's teams competing on the same course in the same conditions throughout the week. There will be awards for men's and women's teams and individual competitions, as well as awards for the school with the best overall combined men's and women's individual and team scores. Live stats will also be provided throughout competition, and can be seen at the following link: Live Stats
The Maroon & White are set for a 9:26 a.m. (CT) tee time on Monday, followed by an 11:27 a.m., start on Tuesday. The tee time for day three will be announced at the conclusion of the second round. Â
Gaston, a three-time National Champion, is set to start her third season at A&M. In her first year in Aggieland, she helped every golfer in the lineup improve their stroke average by at least .75 strokes per round. During the COVID-19-shortened season, the three-time Golfweek Coach of the Year saw two Aggies shave off at least 1.30 strokes off their season stroke average from the previous season.
Seniors Amber Park and Ava Schwienteck, junior Brooke Tyree, sophomore Blanca Fernández GarcĂa-Poggio and freshman Makenzie Niblett represent the Aggies at the tournament.
Park currently boasts the fifth-lowest career stroke average (73.94) in Aggie history. The Allen, Texas, native also has the sixth-most career par-or-better rounds (31). Park set a school 54-hole record with an 11-under (202) at the Schooner Fall Classic (Sept. 28-30, 2018), finishing the event with a career-best third place finish.
Schwienteck, a Magnolia High School product, currently boasts the ninth-best career stroke average (74.76) for the Maroon & White. Last season she posted a 75.20 stroke average, which ranks 10th all-time for a junior. In her sophomore season, she shot a 6-under (66) at the Mountain View Collegiate (3/24/19), making her only the fifth Aggie woman to shoot 6-under or better in a round.
Last year, Tyree locked in the third-lowest stroke average (73.33) by a sophomore in the A&M record books. On her way to this historic average, she placed eighth at the Jim West Challenge (6-under, 69-70-71) and tied for ninth at the Glass City Invitational (5-over, 76-73-71).
Fernández GarcĂa-Poggio became just the third freshman at A&M to post a scoring average lower than 73 (72.44) last year. She locked in three top-15 finishes and finished with the second-best scoring average on the team.
Niblett will be making her debut for the Aggies at the Blessings. The Austin, Texas, native was ranked 55th in the Golfweek Girls Junior Rankings.
This will be the first golf A&M has played since the COVID-19 pandemic ended its season last spring.
The Blessings Golf Club is considered one of the toughest in the country and was home to the 2019 NCAA Championships.
For complete coverage of Texas A&M Women's Golf, be sure to follow the Aggies on social media at @aggiewomensgolf (Twitter), @aggiewomensgolf (Instagram) and @AggieWomensGolf (Facebook) or visit the official home Texas A&M Athletics at www.12thMan.com.
"We are certainly looking forward to going to Arkansas and playing at the Blessings," Head Coach Andrea Gaston said. "It was the site of the 2019 NCAA Championship, and will obviously be a very challenging golf course. Our players have been working really hard to prepare for this tournament and they're excited to compete again. Most importantly we are glad that everyone is healthy. We are thankful that we get to have our season start and we look forward to the challenge of competing with some of the great teams in the SEC."
The field consists of all 14 Southeastern Conference women's golf programs. The invitational is a 54-hole stroke play competition, with the men's teams competing on the same course in the same conditions throughout the week. There will be awards for men's and women's teams and individual competitions, as well as awards for the school with the best overall combined men's and women's individual and team scores. Live stats will also be provided throughout competition, and can be seen at the following link: Live Stats
The Maroon & White are set for a 9:26 a.m. (CT) tee time on Monday, followed by an 11:27 a.m., start on Tuesday. The tee time for day three will be announced at the conclusion of the second round. Â
Gaston, a three-time National Champion, is set to start her third season at A&M. In her first year in Aggieland, she helped every golfer in the lineup improve their stroke average by at least .75 strokes per round. During the COVID-19-shortened season, the three-time Golfweek Coach of the Year saw two Aggies shave off at least 1.30 strokes off their season stroke average from the previous season.
Seniors Amber Park and Ava Schwienteck, junior Brooke Tyree, sophomore Blanca Fernández GarcĂa-Poggio and freshman Makenzie Niblett represent the Aggies at the tournament.
Park currently boasts the fifth-lowest career stroke average (73.94) in Aggie history. The Allen, Texas, native also has the sixth-most career par-or-better rounds (31). Park set a school 54-hole record with an 11-under (202) at the Schooner Fall Classic (Sept. 28-30, 2018), finishing the event with a career-best third place finish.
Schwienteck, a Magnolia High School product, currently boasts the ninth-best career stroke average (74.76) for the Maroon & White. Last season she posted a 75.20 stroke average, which ranks 10th all-time for a junior. In her sophomore season, she shot a 6-under (66) at the Mountain View Collegiate (3/24/19), making her only the fifth Aggie woman to shoot 6-under or better in a round.
Last year, Tyree locked in the third-lowest stroke average (73.33) by a sophomore in the A&M record books. On her way to this historic average, she placed eighth at the Jim West Challenge (6-under, 69-70-71) and tied for ninth at the Glass City Invitational (5-over, 76-73-71).
Fernández GarcĂa-Poggio became just the third freshman at A&M to post a scoring average lower than 73 (72.44) last year. She locked in three top-15 finishes and finished with the second-best scoring average on the team.
Niblett will be making her debut for the Aggies at the Blessings. The Austin, Texas, native was ranked 55th in the Golfweek Girls Junior Rankings.
This will be the first golf A&M has played since the COVID-19 pandemic ended its season last spring.
The Blessings Golf Club is considered one of the toughest in the country and was home to the 2019 NCAA Championships.
For complete coverage of Texas A&M Women's Golf, be sure to follow the Aggies on social media at @aggiewomensgolf (Twitter), @aggiewomensgolf (Instagram) and @AggieWomensGolf (Facebook) or visit the official home Texas A&M Athletics at www.12thMan.com.