Christi Cano Spotlight

Oklahoma State women's golf alumna Christi Cano has achieved just about everything a golfer could ask for in a playing career. She played at Oklahoma State from 2000-03, helping lead the Cowgirls to three Big 12 Championships and a trio of appearances at the NCAA Championships. Cano earned All-American Honorable Mention honors in 2002 and, following her career in Stillwater, played on the LPGA Tour for five years.

Despite all of her successes as a player, Cano finds some of her most gratifying moments in her current role, giving back to the game as the head coach of the men's golf team at Texas A&M-San Antonio.

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Long before Cano was playing among the world's elite class of players, she was learning the game from her family in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Cano first started swinging the club when she was just two years old, picking it up from her three older brothers, who also all enjoyed the sport. Her family lived just a few minutes down the road from a small driving range and par-3 course, allowing her easy access the learn and fall in love with the game.

Of course, as the youngest sibling, breaking into the family sport came with its typical razzing.

"With older brothers, there's like a 'here's a club, get out of our way' kind of thing, you know," Cano said. "So, at two, I just kind of started swinging and putting around."

As Cano got older, she began to play in more competitive tournaments around the state of Texas.

She specifically remembers her first experience playing on the international stage, playing in a Junior World Championship in San Diego around the age of 10. With a top-5 finish at the event, Cano qualified to travel across the world and compete in a tournament in Japan.

"That was kind of my first big experience, playing there in San Diego and then getting to go over to Japan," she said. "So, that was kind of my first taste of international competition."

In any sport, it is common for young athletes to feel an immense amount of pressure from their parents, whether to perform at a high level or follow a certain career path.

Cano, however, never felt these burdens from her own parents, John and Ramona. In fact, she credited her parents' ever-lasting support and positive reinforcement as a big reason as to why she continued to fall in love with the game and compete for so long.

In her youth, Cano's parents would attend every tournament she participated in, but found the perfect middle-ground of showing support while also not providing any extra pressure and allowing her to enjoy the game at her own pace.

"They were super supportive, which is definitely why I kept playing," Cano said. "They were at every single golf tournament. In college, obviously, we travelled a little bit more, but they still came to the Texas ones.

"Even if they couldn't be there, it was always a phone call before every round. So yeah, they were super supportive and weren't the type of parents that were shaking their head or stomping their feet while watching when I was having a bad hole or something. That definitely helped me have a lot less pressure, knowing that every round they'd say, 'Whatever happens, we still love you.'"

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Once Cano reached the age to begin looking into college and her recruitment process, she had her eyes set on one school.

"Being from San Antonio, it was always Hook 'em Horns, Hook 'em Horns," she said. "I didn't really know what I was doing, but I thought I wanted to go to (University of Texas) because everybody else wanted to."

Although Cano found lots of success while playing in events on the American Junior Golf Association and garnering plenty of national attention, she never was able to show her true ability in front of her desired school.

"Whenever the UT coach would come around, I would just have the worst hole ever," she recalled. "I guess I was nervous, and it was a sign that it wasn't meant to be."

Fortunately, these circumstances ended up introducing her to JoAnn Heller, who was in the class above Cano and had already committed to play at Oklahoma State, while paired together at another tournament.

"She just talked about OSU and how awesome it was," Cano stated. "It wasn't really even on my radar, because I didn't want to go too far away from home. She was like even if you don't come, just come on a visit at least."

Heller's strong words were convincing, as Cano did indeed visit Stillwater shortly after and immediately knew it was where she wanted to be. Among all of the benefits of playing golf at Oklahoma State, Cano said it was the team atmosphere that really drew her into the program.

In high school, Cano mainly played on her own, sometimes dragging her friends along to tournaments to get them out of school for a few days but had never truly experienced what it was like to compete as part of a program bigger than herself.

"For me, I was never really a part of a team in high school… I just felt more at home there, and it was definitely a draw with a smaller, close-knit community," she said.

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At Oklahoma State, Cano saw plenty of success, both as a team and individually. Cano's squads captured the Big 12 Championship in three consecutive seasons, earning a birth to the NCAA Championships in each of those years.

That competitive and uplifting environment, along with the beneficial and challenging resources provided by the program, were instrumental in improving Cano's ability on the course.

"If you don't get better at Oklahoma State, then you're probably just lazy, because the facilities and all the resources that the school had for all of the athletes were top of the line," she said. "Having Karsten Creek was huge, because I would say that was probably the hardest course we played out of any tournament.

"So, getting to practice and play out there every single day was going to make you a stronger person, physically and mentally, because it's a long track getting around that course. Just being a part of such a competitive team, coming from not really having one, was just super encouraging and motivating."

In 2002, all of Cano's hard work came to fruition when she etched her name into the Cowgirl record books after being named an Honorable Mention All-American.

At the time, Cano never thought too much about records or personal achievements. Instead, she was mainly focused on just putting in the hours and being a good example for her teammates. Looking back at her playing career, however, she now realizes what a special accomplishment it was.

"Walking into the clubhouse at Karsten Creek, they have all of the All-Americans and plaques on the wall," Cano said. "It was just super inspiring to see that, and a reminder that I could be there if I keep putting in the work. I really didn't think about those awards. I just did the work and wanted to set a good example and be a good teammate.

"When I think about that stuff now, it is kind of overwhelming to me, because I'm like 'Wow, I really did that.' It's pretty cool to say that."

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Following her graduation, Cano continued to build upon that fierce work ethic and earned membership to the LPGA Tour in 2005.

Some may be taken back or waver at the idea of taking such a big leap into professional golf, but Cano knew it was something she wanted to do, regardless of the end result.

"I was going to do everything possible to give myself that opportunity and if I fail, I fail," she said. "At least I can say I did it and I'm not going to have any regrets.

"I was fortunate enough to have a couple of mentors that helped me out caddying for me and said, 'I'm doing this, because I don't want you to have regrets like me,' because they were good enough to potentially play professional golf and they didn't pursue it."

Cano competed on tour for five years, before eventually retiring and moving on with her career. Although she didn't always perform the way she expected, Cano has no regrets about her path, especially when considering the once-in-a-lifetime moments and lessons she was fortunate enough to experience.

"It was four or five years of getting to experience that elite level, and it was tough financially, but I'd do it all over again," she said. "I didn't play to my expectation. Maybe I lost a little bit of confidence down the road, but certainly enjoyed getting to play with the best players in the world."

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After her career change, Cano was at a bit of a crossroads. She worked for Alamo City Golf Trail for a few years before realizing the business side of the game was not for her.

During this time, Cano began to play competitively here and there again and in remarkable fashion actually qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in 2013, three years after her last season on tour. Coincidentally, the U.S. Women's Open in 2005 was where Cano made her first ever LPGA appearance, coming full circle and deciding to close the playing chapter of her life.

Then, the light bulb clicked, and she realized exactly how to use both her career interest and expertise of the game.

"I always had a passion for teaching, whether that's golf or in school," Cano said.

Thus, Cano decided to get into coaching at the collegiate level. In 2016, she began her coaching career at the University of Houston-Victoria as an assistant coach, where she was soon promoted to head coach of both the men's and women's programs.

She served as head coach there until 2020, when the perfect opportunity for her arose.

Following the 2019-2020 academic year, Texas A&M-San Antonio decided to install the school's first six intercollegiate varsity sports, including men's golf. Subsequently, Cano was offered the position of head coach.

Ever since she had graduated college, Cano knew she eventually wanted to return back home to San Antonio to be closer to her family once again. She just hadn't found the right opportunity to make that happen just yet.

That fact, along with the idea of getting to build a golf program literally from the ground up, made the offer impossible to refuse.

"I was wanting certainly to be closer to home, and it was getting bit harder to go back and forth (from Houston-Victoria)," she said. "I was really close, one way or another, to getting back to San Antonio, so it was certainly perfect timing for me with this opportunity."

Throughout her career, Cano has definitely obtained unique skills and experiences playing at both the NCAA Division 1 and professional levels that she has been able to pass along to her current student-athletes.

Her knowledge of the game is without question, but Cano feels that the most gratifying work she has done, both as player and coach, comes away from the game.

Much like her time as a player at Oklahoma State, Cano is not laser focused on the accolades or personal achievements of the team. Instead, the best way for her to give back to the game is by helping the newest wave of student-athletes to grow and learn as people.

"(The most rewarding part is) Seeing them grow as a person and a golfer, and knowing that I had, hopefully, an impact on that," she said. "And, obviously, leading them to graduation, and knowing you had an impact on their journey through college."

This past spring, Texas A&M-San Antonio graduated its first ever class of student-athletes, including one of Cano's men's golfers. With all of her accolades throughout her playing career, Cano finds this to be one of the highlights of her time in golf.

When asked what she is most proud of throughout her golf career, Cano didn't pinpoint any specific moment or accomplishment. Instead, she felt proud of the fact she has paved her own path and achieved every aspect of the game she wanted to reach.

"Being able to say that I've had my dream job my whole career," she said. "I wanted to play in college. I did that. I wanted to play professional golf. I experienced that. I wanted to play in the U.S. Open. I wanted to be a coach, and then, I wanted to be a coach in San Antonio. My ability to work hard and accomplish everything that I've put in front of me."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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