Tom Shaw enters his 12th season at the helm of Abilene Christian men's golf in 2025-26 after joining the program on June 25, 2014. With over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, he is only the third head coach in program history and has led the Wildcats to six tournament victories, including the 2022 Western Athletic Conference Championship.
On the course, Shaw has coached three tournament medalists with three All-WAC honorees and eight All-Southland Conference recipients. In the classroom, Shaw's golfers have earned Academic All-WAC distinction on 12 occasions with four Southland All-Academic accolades. Sixty-nine golfers have received a spot on the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, while 22 have been named GCAA All-America Scholars.
ACU recorded four top-five finishes across the 2023-24 campaign, three of which came in its final four tournaments of the season. The Wildcats came in fifth place amongst 11 teams at the WAC Championship in Payson, Ariz. as Trenton Johnson and Charlie Jackson each tied for 14th. ACU engineered a second-place showing at The Big Texan thanks to Zane Heusel's tie for fifth and followed it with a third-place performance at the Kosati Pines Intercollegiate. The Wildcats wrapped up their fall campaign in third at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.
ACU earned its best finish of 2022-23 at the WAC Championship, placing eighth with a young squad. Heusel led the way for the Wildcats in 14th place, while Jackson and Thomas Buisson each tied for 31st at an even-par 216. Brian Comegys, who subbed in for the final two rounds, carded a 2-under 142.
After being picked to finish in fifth place at the 2022 WAC Championship, the Wildcats defied the odds and captured the program’s first-ever conference crown in its inaugural season in the WAC. They were powered by a 10-under 278 second round, with Alex Clouse tying for third at 6-under 210 to lead his team. Brian Choe's 6-under 66 in the second round was good for the best round of any individual in the field as he tied for 10th. It remains ACU's first conference title at the Division I level and its first overall since 2010's Lone Star crown.
The Wildcats wrapped up the regular season on a hot streak with a pair of top-four performances heading into the WACÂ championship. Heusel's third-place showing at the Redhawk Invitational charged ACU to tie for second at Chambers Bay, a U.S. Open course in University Place, Wash. The Wildcats took fourth place amongst 16 programs at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, headed by Heusel's tie for seventh.
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Shaw was selected as the league’s Coach of the Year, making him the first ACU coach to garner such an honor. Choe and Heusel were named to the All-WAC Team, and the Cats went on to close out the season in 10th place at the NCAA Stockton, Calif. Regional, doing so with a team score of 2-under 862 for the event.
Shaw's Wildcats recorded their best finish at the Southland Conference Championship in 2021, placing third at 22-over 886 thanks to a brilliant 3-under 285 third round at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club. ACU's final round score was the lowest recorded by any team at the tournament.Â
The season saw ACU record four total top-three performances and finish among the top half of its respective fields at seven of 11 tournaments. It was headlined by a first-place finish at The Big Texan in Kerrville, Texas. The Wildcats were the only team to finish under par as Clouse and Heusel came in first and second, respectively. A week prior, ACU worked a runner-up performance at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate. In the second tournament of the fall slate, the Wildcats came in third amongst a field of 10 teams at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate.
Following The Big Texan, ACU placed sixth of 17 regional teams at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic and beat six Southland squads the following week at the Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invitational. Choe, Clouse and Osio all were named All-Southland several days after the conference tournament. Clouse and Osio were the first Wildcats in program history tabbed First Team All-Southland Conference, while Choe received one of five spots on the league's third team.
ACU's three postseason Southland Conference honorees in 2021 were a program high. Two Wildcats were recognized following the 2018 and 2019 campaigns as Clouse was voted Third Team All-Conference in both years. Teammate Garrett Glanton received a third-team citation in 2018, and Bryce Dooley was tabbed honorable mention the next spring.
Shaw's 2020-21 Wildcats played more tournaments than any other Southland school, finishing with an average score of 294.21 (6.94 versus par). Through 33 rounds, nearly a third (10) were par or better as his players combined for 16 eagles and 474 birdies.
Although Shaw’s sixth season with the Wildcats was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he and friends of the ACU golf program all witnessed a dream come true with the February 2020 opening of the
Byron Nelson Clubhouse.
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Located along Judge Ely Boulevard, the clubhouse overlooks ACU's short-game practice venue, '
The Jim,' which was completed during the fall of 2018, and features the Oliver Family Training Room complete with swing-simulation technology (McGlothlin Simulator Bay), a driving range and a snack station. There's also a full-size living area complete with a flat-screen HDTV, two offices, men's and women's locker rooms, the College Golf Fellowship Conference Room, a kitchen and a garage for the team's Sprinter van.
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During the same week of the clubhouse’s grand opening, Shaw’s Wildcats won the La Tour Intercollegiate in dominant fashion. Four Wildcats finished among the top 15 competitors and Clouse carded a 9-under 63 in the third round to win the individual title at 14-under 202. Clouse's score tied the program's single-round record.
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The victory was Shaw’s fourth at ACU, and Clouse was the program’s first medalist since Corbin Renner won the 2015 Texas-Pan American Bronc Intercollegiate. Clouse also tied two of Alex Carpenter’s school records for lowest individual round and lowest 54-hole total. The Wildcats set a team record for lowest round versus par with their 19-under third round.
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ACU’s 2019 fall season was also highlighted by a runner-up showing at the Bentwater Intercollegiate, with Clouse tying for fifth individually. A week later, it came in third at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate, where Jake Bay recorded a sixth-place finish and Osio tied for 10th. At season’s end, senior Bryce Dooley was voted onto his third Southland Conference All-Academic squad and the team was recognized by the NCAA with an APR Public Recognition Award. ACU golf received three consecutive awards from the NCAA, dating back to the 2016-17 season.
The Wildcats launched three top-five finishes in 2018-19, beginning with a fifth-place showing at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in Choudrant, La. Osio led the way in seventh place as ACU shot 9-over 585 as a team. It logged a 19-under 845 at The Big Texan to come in third, with Dooley tying for eighth and Clouse tying for 10th. ACU capped off the season with fifth place at the Southland Conference Championship amongst 11 teams. Chase Allison tied for eighth place at 8-over 224.
The 2017-18 campaign was highlighted by the Wildcats' victory at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational in Spring, Texas, the third title of Shaw's tenure at ACU. Glanton paced the team in third place at 7-under 209. The Wildcats picked up another top-five finish at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate, where they placed fifth. Clouse tied for seventh at 3-under 213.
ACU's best outing of 2016-17 came at Incarnate Word's James S. Litz Memorial, where it earned a fifth-place showing in San Antonio. In 2015-16, the Wildcats came in fifth at the Atchafalaya Intercollegiate before finishing in the top half of teams at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational.Â
Shaw found early success in his first season leading ACU in 2014-15. The Wildcats captured the crown at the Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate to open the campaign as Renner and Dillon Vaughn tied for second and fifth, respectively. One month later, the team recorded a third-place showing at the Harold Funtston Invitational in Huntsville, Texas with Renner placing third.
ACU began the spring on a high note with first place at the Bronc Intercollegiate in Edinburg, Texas, as Renner tied for the individual title. It later earned fourth place at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate in North Carolina thanks to Renner's third-place effort. Shaw's debut season wrapped with the Wildcats' fifth place at the 11-team Southland Conference Championship. Renner earned All-Southland Second Team honors for the second year in a row and was the program's first all-conference golfer at the Division I level.
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Shaw at ACU: By The Numbers
Tournament Victories: 6
Tournament Medalists: 3
All-Western Athletic Conference: 3
Academic All-WAC:Â 12
All-Southland Conference: 8
Southland All-Academic: 4
Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll: 69
GCAA All-America Scholars: 22
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Prior To ACU
Shaw was the head coach at Tulane from 2001-06 before becoming the head coach at Vanderbilt. He was the Commodores' head coach from 2007-12.
After seven years as a professional golfer on the Nationwide Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) from 1991-98, Shaw joined the coaching staff at South Carolina as an assistant coach. After just one season with the Gamecocks, Shaw was hired as the head coach at Tulane, where he served six seasons as the leader of the Green Wave. He was then hired at Vanderbilt in June 2006 and coached there through June 2012. Afterward, he founded College Golf Game Plan, which serves as a consulting service for high school golfers and their families going through the collegiate recruiting process.
In his six seasons at Vanderbilt, Shaw's Commodores won three team championships, five individual medals and advanced to postseason play three times.
Shaw's first Vanderbilt team (2007) finished fifth at the NCAA West Regional at Arizona State University's Karsten Golf Course, leading many to consider the Commodores as one of the most improved teams in the nation. Seventeen-under after 36 holes, the Commodores shot a 21-under 267 -- the low round of the tournament -- and advanced to the NCAA National Championships, where then-sophomore Jon Curran joined senior Luke List as All-Americans.
Vanderbilt earned its first tournament championship since 2003 when it won the 2008 Kauai Collegiate Cup in Lihue, Hawai'i. Two Commodores would earn individual medalist honors during the season, with sophomore Hudson Johnson taking first place at Kauai while Curran won the 2008 Seminole Intercollegiate.
That success was repeated in 2009, as Vanderbilt won the 2009 Seminole Intercollegiate when Ryan Haselden eagled the 54th hole to claim medalist honors. Johnson also took his second win at the 2008 Hummingbird Intercollegiate.
In 2010, his Commodores captured the Samford Intercollegiate title and once again advanced to postseason play. In 2011, Adam Hofmann captured his first individual championship when he won the Hummingbird Intercollegiate.
Shaw's success at Vanderbilt mirrored the outstanding results he saw as Tulane's head coach from 2000-06, where he was the Conference USA and Southeast Region Coach of the Year in 2006.
Shaw helped improve the Green Wave's national ranking every year, but he probably received his greatest challenge when forced to guide the New Orleans-based team through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He relocated the team to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, which entailed enrolling his team in classes and securing practice and playing facilities for the semester.
His background as a Georgia Tech student-athlete and experience at Tulane have led to a strong emphasis on academic development. His teams at Tulane consistently had a team GPA over 3.0 and the 2006-07 team at Vanderbilt achieved its first 3.0 GPA in several years.
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Personal
Shaw was an NCAA Academic All-American in 1990 and 1991 at Georgia Tech, where he captained the nationally-ranked Yellow Jacket golf team. He graduated in 1991 with High Honors.
A seven-year professional, Shaw joined the Nationwide Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) in 1992 and would compete in three Nationwide Tour Championships. Shaw was regarded as one of the Tour's hardest workers and best short-game specialists.
Shaw and his wife, Sherri, have two children: Ryan and Katie.
