The men’s golf team finished seventh on Tuesday at the Colin Montgomery-HBU Invitational. The tournament happened at Traditions Cypresswood Golf Club.
On the par 72 Traditional course, ACU’s team of five scored 887 after the final round, finishing 23 over par. Houston Baptist’s B team ended up winning the tournament with a score of 844, 20 under par.
Tom Shaw, ACU’s golf coach, said the course has an excellent layout and is a difficult challenge for players.
“It is the same course that they use as the qualifier for the PGA Tour Houston Open, so it was a good test to see who had a complete game,” Shaw said. “We had some guys play really well, but we also struggled in some spots, especially on the greens.”
One of the three freshmen on the team, Garrett Glanton, finished the tournament tied for sixth with a score of three under par and a total score of 213. Glanton said this tournament was the first one this year where all 36-holes scheduled to play on Monday were played, and how it was difficult to stay focused during the first two rounds.
“My greatest strength this tournament was my driver,” Glanton said. “I kept it in play for the majority of the tournament, and was able to take advantage of a few par 5s with some long drives.”
Robert Johnson, a junior who played individually for the cats, also ended the tournament in the top 10, finishing eighth with a score 214, two under par.
“I had a couple of really good putting rounds which put me in contention to win the tournament,” Johnson said. “Also, mentally I felt great all week, if I had a bad hole or hit a bad shot it just rolled off my back and I was focused on making birdies.”
Due to Johnson playing as the additional player and competing individually, the team as a whole could not use his eighth place score at the tournament.
“I said at the start of the week that I felt I had something to prove and I certainly did that,” Johnson said.
Shaw said the guys struggled in some spots in Houston, especially on the greens.
“I could have been more aggressive with my putts the final round,” Glanton said. “I wasn’t very comfortable with the speed of the greens, so I tended to leave the majority of my longer putts short.”
Shaw said overall, a positive vibe came from the Wildcat’s performance.
“I thought we were in position to have more good rounds, but we just didn’t make the putts to capitalize on the good shots or positions that we were putting ourselves in,” Shaw said. “We’ll be ready next go around.”
The team’s next road trip occurs during Spring Break at the Bob Sitton Invitational at TPC Four Seasons in Dallas.
