Wildcat golfers back in action this week in south Texas

Monday, April 1

Montgomery, Texas

Abilene Christian

Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invitational

Wildcat golfers back in action this week in south Texas

4/1/2019 12:26:00 AM | Men's Golf

Toyota Bearkat Invitational

Dates: Monday, April 1 (36 holes); Tuesday, April 2 (18 holes)
Start time: 8:30 a.m. shotgun starts each day
Location: Walden on Lake Conroe (Montgomery, Texas)
Course stats: Par-72, 6,765 yards
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

MONTGOMERY, Texas — The ACU Wildcats begin a heavy month of action Monday and Tuesday when they play in the Toyota Bearkat Invitational, hosted by Sam Houston State University.

The Bearkat Invitational is the first of three tournaments ACU will play in during the month of April as they'll also be in action at the Bayou City Collegiate tournament in Pearland on April 15-16 and the Southland Conference championship tournament in McKinney, April 22-24.

The Wildcats are one of 16 teams in the field at the Bearkat Invitational, including fellow Southland competitors Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, Incarnate Word and New Orleans. Also in the field are Baylor, Texas State, UTEP, Houston-Victoria, UT-Rio Grande Valley, Utah Valley, Prairie View A&M, St. Thomas (Texas), Texas Southern, and Midland Community College.

ACU will be represented in the field by Bryce Dooley at No. 1, followed by Alex Clouse (No. 2), Garrett Glanton (No. 3), Francisco Osio (No. 4) and Chase Allison (Nov. 5).

About the Course
Since its inception in 1976, Walden has enjoyed the reputation as one of the premier courses in the state of Texas. Golf Digest has ranked Walden on Lake Conroe as the best course in the Houston area and the fifth-best in the state. Golf Magazine has ranked the par-5 11th hole as one of the top 500 holes in the world. Walden has hosted many prestigious events over the years, including the 2006 TGA South Amateur Championship, the 2007 Southern Texas PGA Pro Championship, the 2009 TGA Mid America Match Play Championship, the 2010 Women's Texas Cup, the 2011 WTGA State Amateur Championship and most recently the 2017 TGA Women's Eclectic Championship.

ACU head coach Tom Shaw:
"This Tournament will be big for us. We're going up against most of our conference competition - Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, Incarnate Word and New Orleans — ,s well as teams that we saw last week in Texas State and UTRGV.

"The golf course will be completely different from what we just competed on and it will be a challenge for a guys to adapt and adjust. But we're playing some good golf right now and have a high dose of confidence from our finish last week. We had some spirited qualifying and practice the last couple of days and the guys will be ready. I'm excited to see how we fare against the conference favorite Sam Houston on one of their home tracks."

Last Time Out
The Wildcats fired three straight under-par rounds to post their best finish of the spring, taking third place at The Big Texan golf tournament in Kerrville last Monday and Tuesday. ACU carded a 4-under-par 284 in the third and final round to finish at 19-under-par 845, 14 shots behind the team champion, Texas State, which finished at 33-under-par 831. New Mexico State was second at 25-under-par 839, followed by ACU in third, UT-Rio Grande Valley in fourth (three-round total of 18-under-par 846) and Odessa College in fifth at 12-under-par 852).

ACU's previous best finish this spring was a seventh-place finish Feb. 25-26 at the HBU-Colin Montgomerie Invitational in Houston. The Wildcats were under par in all three rounds, starting with a 3-under-par 285 in Monday's first round and then a 12-under-par 276 in the second round Monday.

ACU's top finisher was Dooley (playing at No. 1 for the Wildcats), followed up rounds of 71-67 on Monday with a final round 70 to finish at 8-under-par 208, tied for eighth in the individual race. Clouse put the finishing touches on an outstanding tournament by finishing tied for 10th at 7-under-par 209. After struggling in the first round with a 3-under-par 75, Clouse finished 66-68, 10-under park over his final two rounds.

Next Up for ACU
ACU will take off two weeks before returning to the course on Monday, April 15, for the two-day Bayou City Collegiate at the Golfcrest Country Club in Pearland, Texas.