Temperatures were cooler than expected at Diamondback Golf Club in Abilene Monday morning, but the ‘Cats finished the opening round at the Charles Coody West Texas Intercolliegiate hot on Monday. The team has a six stroke lead over the field after day one.

The ‘Cats finished the opening round at the Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate hot on Monday. The team has a six-stroke lead over the field after day one.

Senior Corbin Renner a 68 to lead the ‘Cats. His three under gives him a one-stroke lead over four others tied at two under. Renner went off on the front nine with four birdies.

Junior transfer Dillon Vaughn impressed in his first outing as a Wildcat. He qualified second on the team and finished his round tied for sixth in the field. His 70 has him two strokes back from Renner.

True freshman Clarke Hudgins and Sophomore Kyle Karnei rounded out the team with a pair of 72s. They sit at twelfth in a field that is still wide open after 18 holes of golf.

“Dillon put in some really good qualifying rounds,” said first-year head coach Tom Shaw. “As for Clarke, he is a true freshman, so you never really know with it being his first time. But he played great.”

Shaw came to ACU following time on the Web.com Tour and a head coaching stint at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

“Coach Shaw really worked us hard in preparation for this tournament. I think the whole team really showed up ready to hit the ground running,” Karnei said.

The ‘Cats spent the last two weeks competing against each other to determine the top five golfers. The hard work paid off with the team combining to shoot two under par. They were only team in the tournament that managed to end the day in red numbers.

“We were really chopping at the bit to compete against someone that wasn’t ourselves,” Shaw said.

Western Texas came in four over and in second place. Meanwhile, David Wicks from Midland CC, Vetle Maroy from Odessa CC, Matt Killam from Texas Wesleyan, and Tate McVay from Western Texas trail Renner by only one stroke.

Renner and the Wildcats will need more of the same in day two to maintain their leads.

“We are in a position to do something in our first tournament that we couldn’t do all of last year,” Karnei said. “We are ready for tomorrow.”