SUGAR LAND – Tarleton’s women’s golf team had just a week in-between tournaments this go-around, set to play at the HBU Women’s Intercollegiate Monday-Tuesday at the Riverbend Country Club in Sugar Land, Texas.
For Mathilde Brogens, the short turnaround is a welcome sight, coming off of her best finish as a Texan. At the UTRGV Invitational this past Monday-Tuesday, the freshman finished tied for third at +10, earning the best individual finish by a Texan this year.
“It was awesome, I was happy about the result,” Brogens said. “I didn’t know I was in that position in the tournament, so I was glad about it.”
It was an unusual tournament overall, largely due to the weather conditions. The weather was fair for the first seven holes in the first round on Monday, before it turned south. On the eighth hole for most golfers, the rain, wind and cold hit, making it that much harder to play at the McAllen Country Club.
Head coach Isabel Jimenez said the weather made it hard to see the difference in the mental improvements for most of the Texans that they had been working on in preparation for the three rounds, but for Brogens, that wasn’t the case.
“As soon as it hit, I was actually with her, I was holding the umbrella for her, and I did not see her mental state change at all, even though it went from beautiful day to straight tornado and sideways rain,” Jimenez said. “She actually was able to control herself. By that I mean that when things didn’t go right around the weather or elements, she was able to control herself, stay calm, and keep doing the same routine she was doing when the weather was OK.”
This was Brogens’ best finish at Tarleton, but not her best overall, as she won several tournament back in her homeland of Denmark. It may have proved the most difficult though, due to the weather and her less-than-ideal start. She started +4 through her first five holes, capped off by a double bogey on the Par 5, 11th hole. Back-to-back birdies after that though, followed up by an eagle on the next Par 5, put her back on track to finish even through the rest of the round to go +4 in Round 1.
“I just tried to keep myself motivated through the bad weather and tried to tell myself I knew I could do better,” Brogens said. “So I just tried to stay calm, stay positive, and continue, when you know you can do better.”
With the short turnaround and shoddy weather in Stephenville on Friday, the Texans didn’t have as much time to practice for Monday’s start. But when they did get the chance, Jimenez was putting the focus on some swing technicalities and mental strength.
For the HBU Women’s Intercollegiate, Brogens will play as the No. 1, Angela Inocian the No. 2, Bridgett Joeris the No. 3, Sofia Rodriguez the No. 4 and Alejandra Cambronero the No. 5.
The first four played in the last tournament. Inocian had her best round on Tuesday to finish tied-33rd in the tournament, finishing +22 overall. She turned in a +5, 77 in that third round, going -2 over the last nine holes. Tarleton’s third freshman, Joeris, scored +30 to finish tied-55th. Rodriguez shot +35 placing 64th.
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