In the Lone Star Conference Championships, Corbin Renner made a furious charge up the leaderboard in the final round for an impressive second place finish. Despite the pressure of an individual sport, the course is one of the places Renner finds peace.
“When I am out on the golf course it is a lot of free time to grow in my spiritual life and see what God has in store for me,” Renner said. “Growing up I wanted to play every other sport just like any kid would, but golf always had something in it that brought me back to it.
Before Renner entered kindergarten he was swinging a golf club, giving him a way to spend time with his father and play a sport at the same time.
“I started playing golf when I was three years old with my dad in Little Rock,” Renner said. “I started playing competitively by the age of six.”
As a teen, the Little Rock, Ark. native was travelling during the weekends to compete in tournaments, many of which were out of state.
“A lot of the junior tournaments I played in were in Texas,” Renner said. “On the weekends I would be traveling with my dad. We would just pack it all up and go to a tournament, and then head back for school on Monday.”
Renner has had plenty of success on the golf course, but the first time he beat his father has always stuck in his mind.
“The first time I beat my dad I was about 13,” Renner said. “It took a long time, but I can remember that day for as long as I live. We were playing for a coke and a candy bar at the gas station.”
From there, Renner was a part of a talented high school golf team that featured him and the Carpenter brothers that are now his ACU teammates as well.
“He is a good kid and has basically been a younger brother to me since my junior year in high school,” teammate Alex Carpenter said. “It has been really fun to watch him grow up not only as a golfer but also as an overall good guy.”
The bond that Renner formed with the Carpenters helped lead him to ACU, where the life-long friends have come together to become one of the most formidable teams in the country.
“Going into high school I knew Luke, Adam and Alex Carpenter and they were like brothers to me,” Renner said. “We hung out all the time and played golf all the time. When I found out I was moving to Little Rock and going to the same high school as them, it was a lot of fun. Then when I heard that Adam and Alex signed with ACU and I figured out Luke was going; I wanted to go there too. Coach gave me an opportunity, so I was basically following my brothers here.”
As a sophomore, the future is bright for Renner, who is already one of the Wildcat’s top golfers. Renner hopes to continue to develop his game and eventually play golf for a living.
“One of my goals I set coming into college was to be the number one player and become a team captain,” Renner said. “When I get done with college, I want to try and become a professional golfer, so we’ll have to see what the Lord has for me.”
