ACU Golf to San Antonio for Cabo Collegiate

Monday, March 1

San Antonio, Texas

Abilene Christian

Cabo Collegiate at TPC San Antonio

2/28/2021 9:45:00 AM | Men's Golf

Live Scoring

ABILENE --- Abilene Christian golf will make its third appearance at the Cabo Collegiate this week, which is being hosted for the first time at TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course). The three-round event begins Monday at 8 a.m.

This year's field includes 12 teams ranked among GolfStat's top 100 with the Wildcats coming in at 98. There are also 33 players ranked in the GolfStat 250, including No. 2 David Puig of Arizona State and No. 8 Vincent Norman of Florida State. ACU junior Francisco Osio is ranked 245th nationally, and he'll be accompanied on this week's trip by teammates Brian Choe, Alex Clouse, Chase Allison and Zane Heusel.

As an added bonus this week, Valero Texas Open officials will offer an exemption to the medalist to compete in San Antonio's PGA TOUR event, scheduled for March 29-April 4.

Osio and senior Alex Clouse were ACU's leaders last week's season opener at the Border Olympics in Laredo, tying for 29th place (out of 95 competitors). They were two of eight athletes who finished at 9-over 225. Allison finished one stroke behind them at 10-over 226, while sophomore Heusel and junior Choe finished at 13 and 14-over, respectively.

"We showed some good things in Laredo," said head coach Tom Shaw, "but also looked like we haven't played a tournament in five months. All of our mistakes can be shored up with a couple of days of good quality practice, something that last week's weather did not allow."

ACU's competition this week includes Arizona and Arizona State, Arkansas (host school), Baylor, Cal, Florida State, Houston, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Rice, Stanford, Texas and Texas A&M, Texas Tech and UTSA. The Sooners are the top team in the country followed by Arizona State at No. 2. Arizona is ranked fourth and Texas is No. 9.

"We need to be at our best because in San Antonio, we're playing against the strongest field that ACU has ever competed against," said Shaw. "It will be a great experience for our guys to play with teams that have won the National Championship over the last few years. It will be a good measuring stick for where our program is and where it needs to go to. My guys do not need me to motivate them for this tournament. The challenge will be to treat it like any other tournament, because when all is said and done, it's still you vs. the golf course. All of the other stuff is just fluff and gets in the way of you being at your best."

ACU finished sixth (of 12 teams) at this tournament while still a D2 school in Oct. 2012 as future ACU Sports Hall of Famer Alex Carpenter finished tied for second place, two strokes behind medalist Will Bishop of Kentucky. ACU made its second Cabo Collegiate appearance in March 2014.