The men’s golf team left North Carolina on Tuesday with a 10th-place finish in the JT Poston Invitational, hosted by Western Carolina University, its first tournament of the season.
Through the tournament’s three rounds, the Wildcats finished 13 strokes over par. In the first two rounds, the team had 289 total strokes. The second and third rounds saw improvements with 281 and 283 strokes.
Head Coach Tom Shaw contributed the slow start to fast and firm green speeds that took time for the team to adapt to.
The highest finisher for the Wildcats was Thomas Buisson, senior from Bordeaux, France, who finished 22nd, going one stroke over par, which was 211 for the three rounds. Buisson saw his best performance in the second and third rounds, finishing one under par, giving him a total of 69 strokes for each round.
“I like the way we played overall,” Shaw said. “Thomas hasn’t played in a really long time, and he was our best finisher, so I’m really pleased with him.”
ACU’s four other players in the tournament were:
- Jack Hollingsed, T45, six over par
- Gregoire Hoyeau, T57, eight over par
- Tres Hill, T57, eight over par
- Colin Leonard, T65, nine over par
Hill, graduate from Elk City, Oklahoma, was in his first tournament as a Wildcat after transferring from Oklahoma City University. After finishing seven over par in the first round with 77 total strokes, he recovered well in the final two rounds, shooting two under par in round two and three over par in round three.
“The second and third rounds you saw traces of what he [Hill] can be as a player,” Shaw said. “He’s a birdie machine. He knows how to string together three or four in a row. So I think he’s a big-time tournament player, and we’re glad we have him.
In Leonard’s finish, he shot over nine over par in round one, which set him back. Despite finishing round two one over par and round three one under par, he was unable to come back.
In their next tournament, the Wildcats will be back in Texas for a tournament hosted by Rice in Houston. The Bayou City Collegiate is scheduled to start Sept. 29.
