The men’s and women’s golf teams will play their first tournaments in the coming weeks with the same goal; to win the Western Athletic Conference.

The WAC was last won by the men’s team in 2022 while the women’s team did not win the conference in their first season as a team in 2024. 

“We like having the WAC trophy in our case,” said the men’s team Head Coach Tom Shaw. “We have to build up to that and it all starts in our first tournament in Cancun.” 

The men’s first tournament will take place in Cancun, Mexico from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4. 

When preparing for tournaments as a team, the weather plays an important role. The ability to practice in specific weather conditions can be crucial when conditions may be windy or cold. However, when the conditions in Abilene do not match that of the tournament location, the team can practice using its indoor facilities. 

“We’ve been blessed with the arena to do that,” Shaw said. “What could be a long process of getting ready for a tournament, it shortens up that process because we’re always able to practice.” 

Senior Trenton Johnson will enter his sixth year of collegiate golf and looks forward to using his experience to guide younger players. 

“Golf’s a tough game,” Johnson said. “If I can shine some light onto them and help them and allow them to use their skills at a higher level, that’ll be a good day for me.” 

In the ‘23/ ‘24 season Johnson placed in the top 50 in six out of seven tournaments, including a 14th place finish at five-over par in the WAC Championship. 

“I usually have an intention,” Johnson said. “But outside of that, I have a level of acceptance. You’re swinging a club so fast and we play in an arena that you can’t really control. Anything can happen.”

The men’s team will play in six tournaments before heading to the WAC Championship, including The Buckeye Classic at Ohio State University, The Redhawk Invitational at Seattle University and the Houston Christian University Colin Montgomerie tournament. 

The women’s golf team will play its first tournament in Litchfield Park, Arizona on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. Bowling Green State University is hosting the tournament at Wingwam Golf Club. 

In the inaugural season of the women’s golf program, the team placed in the top five in 10 out of 11 tournaments including four first-place finishes. 

Sophomore Ryann Honea led the team with three first-place finishes individually, including her victory in the WAC Championship, shooting four over par. In her other two tournament wins she ended two strokes under par. Despite her individual accomplishments last season, Honea is focused on the team and seeing everyone perform at a high level in her junior year.

“To do that again would be incredible for myself,” Honea said. “But I think overall I want our team to go to regionals. I want them to experience the NCAA tournament as a whole.” 

Honea’s three individual wins earned her an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament regionals. She ended with a score of 13-over through three rounds, earning a 50th-place finish. 

The women’s team will play in six tournaments before the WAC Championship, including tournaments hosted by Florida State University, Arizona State University, Texas A&M University and the West Texas Classic hosted by ACU. The tournament will be played at the Abilene Country Club on March 3-4. 

“My hope is that we’ll get a lot of students and ACU fans out to watch our tournament,” Head Coach Rob Bennett said. 

Bennett believes in his team’s abilities beyond Honea’s individual success, highlighting their mental strength and ball striking. 

“We’re a really good ball-striking team,” Bennett said. “We keep the ball in play, we don’t have a lot of penalty shots. Those are unforced errors so that really helps us.”

Bennett has a background in counseling and believes that can also be used as a strength for his team. 

“The mental side of the game is probably what people ought to work on the most,” Bennett said. “We’re always talking to our players about the mental side of the game… How they handle adversity, if they hit a great shot and it doesn’t get rewarded, how to handle that.”