The ACU Golf team competed in the Southland Conference Championship this week.
The team finished third-place overall with help from senior Alex Clouse, who shot a very impressive +2 through the three rounds. Clouse finished fourth individually among the field.
Clouse acknowledged the challenges of the course over the tournament but mentioned how his coaches helped him and his teammates.
“The course had a lot of visually intimidating shots both off the tee and into the greens that made it difficult at times,” Clouse said. “Every hole presented a challenge and there was never an easy tee shot or approach into a green. “The coaches gave us each a small gift at the beginning of the week that helped us think back to the points when we first got into the game of golf.”
The Wildcats shot +17 on the first day of the tournament and finished the day in third. In the second round, the team shot +8, which greatly improved from the tough first round. But the third round was where the Wildcats excelled.
Sophomore Zane Heusel and Clouse led the team to a -3 round which was the lowest round of any team over the entire tournament. This strong third round helped the Wildcats secure a third-place finish.
“I’m very proud of the guys for again showing resiliency and never giving in, fighting until the very end,” said head coach Tom Shaw. “We almost caught Lamar for second and were making gains on Sam Houston for first, but we just ran out of holes. All in all, it was a great team effort and one of the best years overall since I’ve been at ACU.”
With the third-place finish, the Wildcats had their best finish that they have ever had in the history of their time competing in Division 1 athletics.
Shaw praised his players for all their hard work in their historic season and acknowledged how he enjoyed coaching this group.
“This group was a tremendous group of young men,” Shaw said. “It was truly an honor and a pleasure to coach these guys this year.”
Clouse was also thankful for the time he had to play his senior season, no matter how well he finished or his team finished.
“I have been grateful for every opportunity I get to play, no matter what I shoot,” Clouse said. “I played with a lot of gratitude and peace because of that this week.”
