Defending Division II national champion Cyril Bouniol has been nominated as a finalist for the Byron Nelson award, presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon and given to the top all-around senior golfer in the country.
The award’s namesake, Nelson, won five majors, including two Masters Championships on his way to a Hall of Fame career. His award is given to the golfer who not only exhibits talents on the links, but talents in the classroom as well, and displays integrity and character as a golfer.
“It would be the best way to end up my collegiate career and the amazing years I had at ACU with the most meaningful award in all of college golf,” said Bouiol. “It would be an honor to receive the award that carries the values and attributes of Byron Nelson.”
This is not the first major award nomination for a Wildcat golfer. Last year, Bouniol won the Arnold Palmer award, and sophomore Alex Carpenter took home the Phil Mickelson award.
This week, the ‘Cats are competing in the Lone Star Conference tournament in San Antonio. After Monday’s opening round, ACU trailed favorite Central Oklahoma University by 12 strokes. Co-LSC individual champions Bouniol and Carpenter played very different rounds, as Carpenter used a strong back nine holes to charge into a tie for fifth, while Bouinol struggled on the back half and ranked the lowest of the five Wildcats.
“We need to stick to our game plan,” Carpenter said. “UCO is really aggressive and if it’s going well they can go deep but if it’s not, they can post some high scores. We’re a much more consistent team so over three days it will all even out.”
Fellow Wildcat, Tyler Sheppard finished at one over and in a tie for seventh. Kyle Dickerson sat at four over par, as did Trey Sullivan.
Coming off a win at the UCO/Kickingbird Classic, the Broncos continued their tear through conference play, boasting three golfers in the top five. Play will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday for the golfers.
Last year, ACU won the tournament by rallying in the final round to win. This year, the Wildcats will need an even bigger comeback to claim their second consecutive tournament victory.
