After finishing top-10 in all four fall tournaments, the Wildcats ran into some stiff competition in their first spring tournament at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and came in 14th.
ACU got off to a slow start in their first two rounds, as wet course conditions didn’t help. The team posted over par scores of 319 and 290, digging a hole for themselves early.
“Mobile was a good learning experience,” junior Reagan Brown said. “The conditions were tough with the course being as wet as it was. We’ve always been a good finishing team, and we did that again in Mobile. The first round was not our best, but we realized that we can hang with any one of those teams if we put together three solid rounds.”
However, like Brown said, the Wildcats turned it around in round three, carding a 3-under-par 285 for the final 18 holes and a total three-round score of 894.
Florida State took the tournament championship with a total score of 834, followed by tournament host South Alabama, who finished 16 shots back with 850. Western Kentucky rounded out the top-three with team total of 858.
Individually, for ACU, junior Garrett Glanton picked up where he left off in the fall, finishing as the top scorer for the Wildcats at 4-over-par and in 27th place for the tournament. Freshman Alex Clouse was not far behind in 35th and shot the lowest single round of any Wildcat with a 4-under-par 68.
Sophomore Bryce Dooley carded a final round of 3-under to finish at 8-over-par and junior Kade Miller finished with total scores of 233 and 237 respectively to close out the Wildcats’ five.
Freshman Chase Allison and junior Cory Donnell competed as unattached competitors in the tournament. Allison recorded a 5-over-par 221, and Donnell finished with a 226.
“All in all we know our capabilities, and we’re looking forward to getting it going this spring,” Brown said.
ACU next heads to Houston for the Colin Montgomerie Invitational Feb. 26 and 27, hosted by fellow Southland Conference competitor Houston Baptist.
In 2017 the Wildcats finished in a tie for seventh as a team, competing against the likes of Southland competitors, Central Arkansas, Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls State and Incarnate Word, as well as last year’s champion Louisiana Monroe.
The tournament will take place at the 7,169-yard, par 72 Cypresswood Traditions Golf Course.