Big fish: How Texas A&M’s Adela Cernousek just kept swimming, all the way to an NCAA title

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Texas A&M head coach Gerrod Chadwell calls Adela Cernousek, his junior from Antibes, France, by the nickname “Fish.” It’s a term, Chadwell says, used for freshmen, and since Cernousek was Chadwell’s first when he took the Aggies’ job three years ago, the moniker stuck.

Chadwell remembers when he picked Cernousek up from the airport the summer before her freshman season. She had signed under the previous coach, Andrea Gaston, and Chadwell, barely knowing the kid, sensed some reluctance from Cernousek.

“I didn’t know if she really wanted to be there,” Chadwell recalled.

But under Chadwell’s guidance, Cernousek kept swimming.

And on Monday evening at Omni La Costa, both she and Chadwell fought back tears as Cernousek polished off her first collegiate victory, a three-shot win over Florida State’s Lottie Woad at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship.

“I don’t think I was breathing at all during the whole day today,” Cernousek said. “Yeah, I’m just like – I don’t believe it. It’s crazy.”

Her younger self surely wouldn’t have believed it.

Cernousek was ranked No. 231 in the world when she inked her national letter of intent to play for the Aggies in November 2020. She was a raw talent with a ton of power and athleticism – her dad, Ludek, played volleyball for the Czech national team. But when Cernousek arrived in College Station, Chadwell noticed that her clubs resembled more of what you’d see in beginners’ bags – stock specs, graphite shafts, aqua grips.

“You couldn’t get more off-the-rack,” Chadwell said.

Cernousek quickly got fitted for new clubs, but acclimating to life in the Lonestar State proved more difficult. For the first few months, she battled homesickness; the food certainly didn’t help matters. Chadwell said he and Cernousek “butted heads a lot,” and there were some tough conversations. He subbed her out for the second round of her first SEC Championship, even after she had posted five top-20s in her first eight college starts.

“We let her learn the hard way,” Chadwell said. “But we stayed consistent, and there was a lot of trust built that year.”

Cernousek capped her debut season by tying for 21st in her first NCAA Championship and then going 2-0 in match play as the Aggies made a surprise run to the semifinals at Grayhawk. As a sophomore, she only posted one top-10 but also finished outside the top 30 once – and that was a T-31. She was T-14 in her second trip to nationals while going 1-0-1 in match play as Texas A&M again made the Final Fore.

This season was Cernousek’s best yet, her win Monday marking her seventh top-6 finish of the season. In eight spring starts alone, Cernousek never placed worse than T-13.

“This isn’t by just luck, either,” Chadwell said. “She trains extremely hard.”

Chadwell raves about Cernousek’s work ethic. She couldn’t live any closer to the Aggies’ home course, Traditions Golf Club, renting an apartment that is about a 15-minute walk to the team’s facility. She also is ruthless in the gym. And that initial culture shock? Cernousek bought her first pair of cowboy boots this year.

More recently, she busted down the door by winning her U.S. Women’s Open qualifier, carding rounds of 65-73 at Golfcrest Country Club in Pearland, Texas. It was a strange victory, too, as thunderstorms pushed play into a second day; Cernousek had to drive the nearly two hours back home to pack for the NCAA Championship and then drive back to wrap up her final round.

“I think that gave her the confidence that she feels like she belongs on this stage,” Chadwell said.

This week reinforced that self-belief. Cernousek built a six-shot lead over Woad, the recent Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner who also contended at last month’s Chevron Championship, after 54 holes. She birdied her first hole Monday and only carded two bogeys in shooting 72, her worst score of the championship by four shots.

As Cernousek stepped out of scoring, she immediately FaceTime’d her parents, who had been watching the broadcast from back in France, where it was already well past 3 a.m. While one hand held the phone, Cernousek’s other hand covered her mouth; she was speechless, as were he parents.

“They couldn’t believe it, either,” Cernousek said.

Chadwell was also on his phone, dialing up his wife, LPGA player Stacy Lewis. During Cernousek’s freshman year, she was the only Aggie to not go home for the holidays, spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas with Chadwell, Lewis and their then-3-year-old daughter, Chesnee.

Less than three years later, Cernousek has become Texas A&M’s first NCAA individual champion – and her stellar play also has the Aggies in match play for a third straight year; they’ll face UCLA in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

“It’s just amazing to see the growth in a young lady, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Chadwell said, choking up. “Wins are great, but just to see her have this, she’s so deserving.”

Chadwell then added, after collecting himself, “I wish I had five of her.”

He only gets one.

But his little fish, well, she’s now a national champion.