The men’s golf team from Texas A&M University-San Antonio has been establishing itself this spring season, showing spurts of success against talented programs like Grandview University, University of Houston-Victoria, and Our Lady of the Lake University.
Head coach Christi Cano helped shape the newfound culture of the golf program.
Cano, who is a former professional golfer for the Ladies Professional Golf Association and a San Antonio native, began her tenure as the men’s head coach in April 2020.
“Getting to come home and…start a program from the very beginning is something that was definitely appealing,” Cano said about her decision to take the job. “It’s just an exciting opportunity to give back to San Antonio.”
Cano explained the difficulties of being a head coach early on because of the pandemic.
“Going into the position…you’re already knowing that there’s going to a lot more unknowns,” she said. “We just had to be resilient and patient…and know that things we’re going to change sometimes for the better…sometimes for the worse.”
From winning the San Antonio Women’s Amateur Championship, Big XII Championship at Oklahoma State University, and the Texas Women’s Open on the LPGA tour, Cano believes the experience she gained from playing golf all her life helped her transition to coaching.
“It’s something I really enjoy doing,” she said. “I feel like I had a lot of experience that I wanted to share with student-athletes.”
A strong culture needs to be learned from the beginning, Cano said.
“I want players that are going to come in and create a competitive…team-oriented culture,” she said. ”If you’re going to be dedicated, hardworking and coachable…those are the type of players we want on the team.”
Cano has seen that establishment and recognition have interested more players to play golf for A&M-San Antonio.
“We’re getting 50 to 100 kids every year trying to join the team,” she said. “You know, being a smaller team…you’re turning away 95% of the students (that) inquire about being on the team.”
Recently, A&M-San Antonio received $10 million from the Bexar County Commissioners Court to expand athletics facilities.
Cano said she sees how important funding will be for the university and for the Southside community.
“To be able to receive that tells us that the city’s committed to seeing us grow and be successful,” she said. “Whenever the leadership is on your side…it shows that the future success of athletics is here.
“That’s the first step to where we’re going to be in the near future…being a nationally ranked program in different sports.”
Finishing in the top five and top 10 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournaments, the Jags have made leaps and bounds with players such as junior Jordan Hardin and freshman Jacob Pena cracking top 25 finishes individually.
Cano wants people to know that her players have taken care of business both on and off the course.
“Our academic is solid with a 3.4 GPA,” she said. “We’re not just here to play sports…we’re here to build futures for the student athletes.”
A&M-San Antonio Men’s golf team is preparing to compete in the Red River Athletic Conference Championship April 17-19 in Victoria, Texas.
For more information about the men’s golf team, visit their social media account on Instagram, @tamusamensgolf. Team coverage can be found at @tamusasports on all other social media platforms.
