Wildcats ready to take on Comanche Trace

Monday, March 25

Kerrville, Texas

Abilene Christian

The Big Texan

Photo by: Southland Conference

3/24/2019 9:14:00 PM | Men's Golf

The Big Texan

Dates: Monday, March 25 (36 holes); Tuesday, March 26 (18 holes)
Start time: 8:30 a.m. shotgun starts each day
Location: Comanche Trace Golf Course
Course stats: Par-72, 7,059 yards
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

KERRVILLE, Texas — The ACU Wildcats are back on the golf course this Monday and Tuesday as they play in The Big Texan tournament at Comanche Trace Golf Course beginning Monday and running through Tuesday.

The Wildcats are one of 11 teams in the field, which includes two other Southland Conference teams in New Orleans and Incarnate Word. Other teams in the field are the hosts from Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Texas State, New Mexico State, Prairie View A&M, Missouri Southern State and Our Lady of the Lake, as well as junior college teams from Western Texas College in Snyder and Odessa College.

ACU will be represented in the field by Bryce Dooley at No. 1, followed by Garrett Glanton at No. 2, Francisco Osio at No. 3, Alex Clouse at No. 4 and Chase Allison at No. 5. Ethan Eppinette will be playing as an individual in the tournament.

About the Course
Tom Kite, along with Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell, designed the first 18 holes, The Valley and The Hills, utilizing the exquisite Hill Country terrain, which is blessed with majestic oaks. Lakes and streams were also incorporated along with the best bent grass greens in the state. Jay and Carter Morrish designed a series of streams and lakes that meander around the third nine, The Creeks, which opened in July of 2008. Comanche Trace offers beautiful golf holes, natural contouring and pristine conditions. The greens are a blend of bent grass, Crenshaw and L93 bent grass, which, combined with remarkable drainage and dry air, have no need for fans. Comanche Trace course conditions are renowned among golfers as the best in the state and some of the best in the nation.

ACU head coach Tom Shaw
"We're excited for the opportunity this week to go play a terrific golf course in Comanche Trace. We've been working on our approach shots to the green; being a little wiser where we place the ball to give us the best opportunity for Birdie and Par. We're looking forward to hopefully implementing those lessons this week and shooting some lower scores than our previous three events this spring.

"These next three events are key to our march toward a Southland Conference Championship. We will play some nationally ranked teams on some high-quality golf courses. We need to begin peaking now so we can go to Stonebridge in April with a high level of confidence."

Last Time Out
The Wildcats finished ninth in the 54-hole University of South Florida Invitational two weeks ago in Tampa, Florida. The Wildcats opened the tournament Monday with a first-round 8-over-par 296 and then were on pace for about the same kind of round on the next 36 holes before play was stopped because of darkness. ACU finished its second round early Tuesday morning at 11-over-par 299, moving up to seventh place at 19-over-par 587. But the third round at the par-72, 7,004-yard Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club wasn't as kind to the Wildcats, who never could get any momentum going in Tuesday's final round. ACU finished at 19-over-par 307 in the final round to card a 38-over-par 902 to finish ninth.

Next Up for ACU
ACU will be right back on the course next Monday and Tuesday (April 1-2) at the Bearkat Invitational, hosted by Sam Houston State at Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Course in Montgomery, Texas.