Wildcats grab co-championship

Monday, May 2

Georgetown, Ky.

Abilene Christian

NCAA DII South Central/Midwest Super Regional

Photo by: Jeremy Enlow

5/4/2011 10:19:43 PM | Men's Golf

Final results

GEORGETOWN, Ky. – The ACU Wildcats are headed to the NCAA Division II national tournament as the NCAA Division II South Central / Midwest Super Region champions, but it didn't happen exactly the way they planned.

The Wildcats lost what was as much as a 16-stroke lead in the final round Wednesday and finished in a tie for first with Central Oklahoma as the Lone Star Conference rivals finished as super regional co-champions.

ACU and Central Oklahoma, along with Cameron, Missouri-St. Louis and Central Missouri qualified for the national tournament, which will be played May 17-20 at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at the Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Defending regional and NCAA Division II national champion Cyril Bouniol – on Tuesday named the winner of the prestigious Byron Nelson Award – won his second straight regional championship, finishing at 1-under-par 210 (66-70-73) to win the medalist title by four strokes.

"Of course we wanted to win the tournament outright," ACU head coach Mike Campbell said, "but more than anything we wanted to have the opportunity to play next week for the national championship. We've got that opportunity now, and I feel great about our team and our chances at the national tournament."

The Wildcats blistered the course during Wednesday's second round, moving from two shots out of first place to a commanding nine-stroke lead over Grand Valley State and a 10-stroke lead over Central Oklahoma entering the final round.

ACU's lead eventually grew to as many as 16 strokes over UCO as the Wildcats at one point found themselves at 3-under-par as a team and the Bronchos at 13-over-par. Central Oklahoma actually never really made a move in the final round; instead, the Bronchos watched the Wildcats falter over the final nine holes and fall back to the pack.

On the four scorecards that ACU counted in the final round, the Wildcats posted 13 bogeys and one double-bogey and just two birdies to post a 13-over-par score on the back nine.

The Wildcats, however, still led by one stroke with UCO's Josh Creel and Baer Aneshansley still on the course. Aneshansley parred his final two holes (Nos. 1 and 2 on the course), but Creel birdied his final hole (No. 1) to pull the Bronchos into a tie for the regional championship.

"We put so much energy and effort into the morning round that it might have caught up to us in the afternoon," Campbell said. "The conditions (Wednesday) morning were brutal; 40 degrees and windy, but our guys fought through it and handled it all really well.

"We played really well in the morning and through nine holes of the final round, and then I don't know if adrenaline left us or what happened, but we struggled over the last nine holes," he said. "But I'm still really proud of my guys. We talked about being physically tough to stay out on the course for so long without a break (more than 12 hours on Wednesday), but you also have to be mentally tough to be out there that long. I thought my guys handled it really well."

While Bouniol was on his way to winning the regional championship, Tyler Sheppard (15th at 11-over-par 221) and Trey Sullivan (18th at 12-over-par 222) were on their way to top-20 finishes. Sophomore all-America Alex Carpenter finished tied for 45th at 17-over-par 227, while Kyle Dickerson finished tied for 56th at 18-over-par 228. Dickerson, though, turned in a 1-under-par 71 in Wednesday's morning round to help push the Wildcats into the lead.

The Wildcats' regional championship is their first since 1994, and this trip to the national tournament marks ACU's first trip to the national tournament since 2007.