Wildcats finish sixth at regional
ACU fires final-round 295 to finish at 26-over-par
Final scores
DUNCAN, Okla. -- The ACU Wildcats finished their 2006 season Wednesday with a solid sixth-place finish at the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament at The Territory Golf Club.
The Wildcats fired a final-round 295 to finish the tournament at 26-over-par 890, 16 shots behind tournament champion Cameron, which finished at 874. The Aggies got off to a sizzling start Wednesday and finished with a one-under-par team score of 287, winning the regional crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II national championships with a two-stroke victory over St. Mary's.
Central Oklahoma, which entered Wednesday's final round with a nine-stroke lead over the Aggies, slipped to third with a 12-over-par 300 team score and did not qualify for one of three at-large bids to nationals from the South / South Central Super Regional. UCO finished with a total of 878 (+14) to tie St. Edward's for third in the South Central.
Florida Southern led from start to finish to claim the automatic bid in the South Region, posting an even-par 288 on the final day to win by four strokes over Lynn University (Fla.). Lynn and St. Mary's each earned at-large bids to the national tournament out of the Super Regional, as did the University of North Alabama, which finished tied for third in the South Region with a team total of 875 (+11).
Individual honors in the South Central Regional went to Cameron's Travis Lovins, who shot a final-round 70 on the par-72 layout at The Territory to top Northeastern State's Brad Risenhoover by one stroke. Both players entered Wednesday's final round tied for second at three-under-par, trailing UCO's Mitch Boles, who slipped to fifth in the individual race with a final-round 77.
The Wildcats were led by Cian Daly, who finished 14th at 223 (+7) after rounds of 76-72-75. Patrick Hanauer finished tied for 15th at 224 (+8) after firing rounds of 78-74-72. After shooting an opening-round 305 (+17), the Wildcats were only nine-over-par in the final two rounds, firing a team total of 585 that was the third-best total of any team in the field.
And despite failing to qualify for the national tournament, ACU head coach Mike Campbell was pleased with his team's performance, not only in the regional tournament, but in the entire spring season itself. ACU won two tournaments, finished in the top twice and finished sixth in two other tournaments. The Wildcats will not lose any of their top five players next year, and of those top five players, two are freshman and one is a sophomore.
"We made a lot of strides this season, so I'm happy about that," Campbell said. "We played really well the final two days of the tournament, and it was a good learning experience for our young guys. We've got each of our top five coming back next year, so that should make for an exciting season next year."
