The ACU men’s golf team will compete in the Ram Masters Invitational on Monday and Tuesday in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The tournament, hosted by Colorado State at the Fort Collins Country Club, will be the team’s second invitational of the season after finishing tied for thirteenth over last weekend at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo., hosted by Air Force.
The team struggled at the beginning of its last tournament, shooting a 303 in the first round, which ranked second-to-last. The Wildcats cleaned up their game in the second round to earn thirteenth at the invitational. Coach Tom Shaw believes that the tournament at Air F0rce should help with their next tournament.
“I was pleased with how we responded and I thought we got better each round and I think that’s all we can ask for,” Shaw said.
Along with senior Dillon Vaughn, junior Ryan Beatty and freshman Garrett Glanton, who all were part of the five-man squad last weekend in Colorado Springs, the Wildcats will also be joined by juniors Kyle Karnei and Hunter Rawls, who are taking the places of senior Luke Carpenter and junior Robert Johnson.
“Coach is an awesome guy so it’s really good to have that kind of support,” Vaughn said. “To impress him and to come out and play well in the first tournament was a good boost for both [myself and Ryan.]”
The invitational will be the team’s second of the season in the state of Colorado, where the elevation and course types are significantly different than any course in Texas. After three days in the Centennial State just a few days ago, the team should be able to get off to a better start and give a better performance this time around.
“It’s one thing to have knowledge of [the environment], and then to apply it,” Shaw said. “By having three rounds in Colorado, just by experience, will help us [in this tournament.]”