After two days of tough competition, ACU golf hopes to finish strong at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate invitational in Los Cabos, Mexico. Despite a rough start during the two days, the Wildcats have one day left to move up from their current spot in last place.
“It’s a new experience with new teams and we’re excited to move forward,” head coach Mike Campbell said.
The first-round total after Sunday was 321 for the Wildcats, putting them 37 over par. This placed them far behind the two teams in the lead at the end of day one, Southern Methodist University and Houston, tied for first at 288. Alabama finished Sunday in third place at 294.
Round two was slightly better for ACU, but not enough to fill the gap left by other powerhouse teams competing in the tournament. The Wildcats only reduced their total from Sunday by three shots, finishing round two at 318 and remaining in last place with a two-day total of 639. SMU, who is hosting the tournament, finished Sunday in the lead, but fell down the list after struggling in round two. After shooting a 288 on Sunday and a 298 on Monday, they head into Tuesday’s final round tied for fifth with a two-round total of 586.
Tournament standings after Monday night saw Houston take the lead after firing a second-round 285, putting them at 583 total. This placed them four shots in front of Baylor and five shots in front of Alabama, a top-ranked team that came to Los Cabos with an 11-tournament winning streak in motion.
Corbin Renner has been the top performer in Mexico for the Wildcats, posting a 76 and a 75 for a total of 151 after Monday, a score which includes a hole-in-one from Sunday’s opening round. Trey Sullivan is right behind him with a total of 153 (76-77), tying him for 50th place overall. Luke Carpenter, Kaden Walters, and Ian Evans finished Monday with totals of 168, 171 and 173, respectively.
“Corbin has been hitting the ball really well and played at a high level,” Campbell said.
This is arguably one of the toughest tournaments the Wildcats will compete in this season. It is stacked with some of the best Div. 1 competition, including nationally ranked teams like Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Louisiana State. The course itself is one of the more difficult ones the Cats have seen. The beautiful, par-72, 7,070-yard course is ranked No. 1 in Mexico by Golfweek Magazine and is proving to be a challenge.
The men wrapped up the tournament Tuesday night as the Wildcats finished in 14th place. Renner finished with a team low of 228, while Sullivan posted a 232.
