Carpenter, 'Cats rally for victory

Alex Carpenter began his final round of the St. Edwards Invitational down by a stroke. It didn’t matter as Carpenter shot his lowest nine holes as a golfer at ACU by hitting seven birdies on the front nine to cruise to a four-stroke victory.

His performance, as well as those of his teammates, pushed ACU to a two-shot win over Barry University. All five Wildcat golfers finished in the Top 25. Tyler Sheppard started the tournament tied with Carpenter finished in sixth after shooting a three-over par final round. Reigning national champion Cyril Bouniol was 11th while Kyle Dickerson was in 16th. Adam Carpenter, Alex’s twin brother, rounded out the five ‘Cats by finishing in 25th.

“We played really solid against teams from all places around the country like Florida, California, Texas and Oklahoma,”Alex Carpenter said.

The win for Alex Carpenter marks his sixth in a row. The last time Carpenter lost a tournament was the second weekend in September when ACU hosted the Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate tournament. In that tourney, Alex Carpenter finished in a tie for 15th place.

“I knew I was playing well compared to the other teams top players,” Alex Carpenter said. “I just wanted to keep the momentum going for the team. Everyone in the Top 25 helps a lot.”

Since that weekend, Carpenter has been unstoppable, climbing to third in www.golfstat.com‘s overall standings.

Those standings factor in Divisions I, II and III and NAIA, so it includes all collegiate golfers. Out of all the golfers, AlexÂ Carpenter actually has the lowest scoring average per round. The only reason he doesn’t sit atop the standings is that he has played two rounds less than Patrick Cantley from UCLA.

As far as Division II golfers are concerned, Alex Carpenter graces the top of the standings in par 5 scoring, subpar strokes per round, fairways hit and total overall short game.

He will get a chance to make it seven victories in a row next weekend when the Wildcats travel to the Hawks Creek Golf Club in Fort Worth for the UST Mamiya Texas Intercollegiate tournament.