Golfers return to Stonebridge Country Club for Southland Conference Championship

Monday, April 26

McKinney, Texas

Abilene Christian

Southland Conference Championship

Photo by: Andy Mead

Golfers return to Stonebridge Country Club for Southland Conference Championship

4/25/2021 11:40:00 AM | Men's Golf

Live Scoring

ABILENE, Texas -- Abilene Christian golf heads East to McKinney, Texas and the Stonebridge Country Club (par-72, 7,346-yard course) this week for the three-day Southland Conference Championship. The Wildcats begin teeing off Monday at 9:45 a.m. and will be paired with individuals from Lamar and the two-time defending champions from Sam Houston.

The Bearkats have won four conference titles since ACU entered back in the league (2014), while the 2016 and 2017 crowns were claimed by McNeese. The Cowboys finished sixth in 2019 (the 2020 championship was canceled due to COVID), three stroke behind the Wildcats who were led by two-time Third Team All-Conference honoree Alex Clouse.

Clouse will be back on the links this week along with teammates Zane Heusel, Jake Bay, Brian Choe and Francisco Osio.

Clouse this year has one victory and two runner-up showings through 10 tournaments. He won The Big Texan (210) in late March and prior to that was the second-place finisher at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate (217). During the fall season he placed second of 86 golfers at the Little Rock Invitational with a season low 209.

Osio, a junior, comes into this week with four consecutive top-20 showings at Pinehurst (11th), Big Texan (14th), Bayou City (9th) and Huntsville Toyota (20th), performances that lowered his average score this season to 73.41. He shot a low round of 67 during the final day of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate to finish with a 221.

Choe has finished in the top 25 of his last three tournaments at Pinehurst, Bayou City and Huntsville, and during his final round at Bayou City he carded a season low round of 69. His best finish of the year was a seventh-place showing at last fall's Jim Rivers Intercollegiate hosted by Louisiana Tech. There he had rounds of 71, 73 and 70.

Bay has been with the Wildcats the last three weeks at Big Texan (12th), Bayou City and Huntsville after placing a season-best sixth (215) at the Prairie View Relays where he posted rounds of 67, 74 and 74.

Heusel has made the Wildcats' top five for six of seven spring tournaments, and had his best showing at Kerville's Big Texas, bouncing back from an opening-round 77 with a 65 and 69 (229) to finish runner-up to teammate Clouse.

Logan Diomede is ACU's alternate for the conference championship. This year he competed at three tournaments, and finished as high as second place at Prairie View A&M behind rounds of 72, 68 and 70. He then cracked the top 30 at The Big Texan.

With 10 tournaments under their belts, no other Southland team has played more golf in 2020-21 than the Wildcats. Through 30 rounds they have an average score of 294.10 (6.90 vs par), which is second only to the Bearkats (288.24 / 0.94) who have competed in six tournaments.

The Dye Course at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club is a par-72 course with a total yardage of 7,219. The front-nine holes are set at 3,521 yards, while the back nine combines for 3,698 yards. This will be the ninth time the Dye Course has served as host of the Southland Men's Golf Championship.

The Southland Champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to one of six regional sites for the 2021 NCAA Men's Golf Championship, scheduled for May 17-19. Additionally, the individual champion, if not a part of the championship team, will be granted an automatic selection into the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Qualifiers from the NCAA Regional Tournaments will earn a spot in the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, which will be hosted at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., May 28-June 2.