The ACU golf team hosted the Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday at Diamondback Golf Club. Junior Corbin Renner stole the show with a final round six-under-par 65 to win the tournament.
“I have been talking to coach about doing anything I can to be a team leader this year,” Renner said. “To get a win is a huge confidence booster.”
Renner battled a back injury for most of the summer and fired off a one-under-par 70 in the first round to put him in the top five.
From there, Renner hit 17 of the 18 greens in regulation and made some clutch putts to take over the final round and seal the victory.
“Going into the day, all I wanted to do was hit fairways and hit greens,” Renner said. “We play out at Diamondback a lot playing in the wind. It was really to our advantage out there because we know where to miss hit. If you are going to miss a shot, you know where to still get up and down for a par.”
Renner’s round of 65 beat everyone else on the course by at least three strokes.
The rest of the Wildcats also put together a nice tournament, finishing fourth as a team. Junior Luke Carpenter shot a three-over-par 146 for the tournament to tie for 16th place.
ACU entered two teams into the tournament, which meant that all 10 of their golfers were able to compete. The ACU second group of five players finished the tournament in 10th place but still beat a couple of schools and put together an extremely impressive round Monday.
“The first day I thought we played really solid,” head coach Mike Campbell said. “All ten of our players played really well. Overall I was very pleased, especially with having five freshman out there.”
The ACU second five only trailed the first five by a combined four strokes after the first round.
The Wildcat golf team will be back in action in a couple of weeks when they head to Houston to play the Houston Baptist Huskies Intercollegiate Sep. 30 and Oct. 1.