It wasn’t the end result Alex Carpenter was looking for, but it was an experience that he will carry for the rest of his ACU career.

Because of a win in last summer’s Southern Amateur Championship, Carpenter was invited to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla.

“Playing in front of those types of galleries was an experience unlike anything I have ever been around,” Carpenter said.

His first round was playing out without much a hitch, when disaster struck. On the par five, fifth hole, Carpenter hit his tee shot into the water. Then, on his second try, he again found the water. On his third try, he actually parred the hole, but the four strokes he lost when his ball found the water twice were too much to overcome.

He finished the round 10 over par, and was in need of a miracle to make the cut.

Carpenter returned to form in his second round shooting a three under par 69. It was a better round than even Phil Mickelson shot, but it still wasn’t good enough to push him above the cut line.

The experience though was far more important than any result. Before the tournament, Carpenter got the chance to practice with Tour pros Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson. Carpenter was also invited to a Tour Bible study with Aaron Baddeley.

He even got a thumbs up from Arnold Palmer himself. After Carpenter hit his approach on 18 to within 15 feet, the legend whistled and said, “‘Atta boy.”

“All the guys were really encouraging and complimentary of my game,” Carpenter said. “After this week, it really proved to me that I have the game to play with those guys and I can’t wait to get out there and do it again.”

Carpenter is only the second ACU Wildcat to compete in a PGA Tour event. The first was Tour pro Jeev Milkha Singh, who was a national champion while at ACU.