2023-24 Season Preview: Men's Golf
9/5/2023 11:36:00 AM | Men's Golf
ABILENE – ACU embarks on a new men's golf season this month with a more experienced and hungry team.
The Wildcats won a conference crown in 2022 and hope to get back to that standard after a less-experienced roster finished eighth in the WAC in 2023.
Coming back this season are senior Zane Heusel, juniors Charlie Jackson and Jaime Lewis and sophomores Thomas Buisson, Brian Comegys, Grégoire Hoyeau and Jamie Lewis. Hoyeau leads the group in scoring average at 74.94. Heusel averaged 785.19, Buisson averaged 75.21, Lewis came in at 75.50, Jackson at 75.67 and Comegys at 76.39.
The players Head Coach Tom Shaw looks to as leaders are his senior and juniors.
"The leaders would have to be Zane Heusel, Charlie Jackson, and Jaime Lewis," said Shaw. "They all bring different leadership qualities to the program and have the most experience on a team that is still made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores."
That being said, the competition for starting spots should be fierce.
"Zane is our most experienced returner and has the capability of being a first-team All-WAC player," Shaw said. "This is a big opportunity for him to finish out his college career in style. Our sophomores Buisson, Hoyeau, and Comegys each should provide some quality finishes throughout the season and give our lineup some firepower week after week. This team has more depth than we've ever had, so it is hard to say who will be in the lineup week by week. The qualifying process in Abilene will be ultra-competitive! Every single player on the team will be capable of earner a starting roster spot."
Newcomers will be in the hunt for spots in the scoring five as well. Freshmen Preston Cooper and Preston DeFriend join the squad along with Tennessee transfer Trenton Johnson.
"I expect all of them to contribute this year, especially Trenton Johnson, who has big-time experience and maturity that should help our program in many ways," Shaw said of the new Wildcats.
Several Wildcats sharpened their skills over the summer.
"Brian Comegys won the TXGA Father-Son with his dad," said Shaw. "Brian was probably the best player in the whole field in the tournament, highlighted by making 10 birdies on the final day to help his team win the event by nine shots. Gregoire Hoyeau, however, had our team's best summer, excelling in several national tournaments in Europe, including top-10 finishes in the Biarritz Cup and the Dutch Amateur Championship."
There's still work to do this fall as the team prepares for the WAC Tournament next spring.
"We need to putt better, chip better, and wedge it better," said Shaw. "We have the facility to accomplish that very thing! The team just was not able to transfer their skills to tournament sites last year. Our inexperience showed as well, with three or four freshmen playing every event. We now have the depth and experience to be better prepared as we launch our new tournament season."
The schedule gets going this month in Louisiana and it includes some challenges.
"The schedule is a good one, with some familiar venues and a few new events mixed in," Shaw said. "The team loves opening our fall season at Squire Creek in Ruston, Louisiana, and then going out to Western North Carolina. I know the guys are looking forward to the Cancun trip in early February. In March, the University of Arizona's tournament will be the highlight and April sees us returning to Ohio State, which was an incredible trip last year. As usual, we try to expose the team to courses in different parts of the country to help develop their skills. To be an elite player, your game has to travel and we want to prepare them for that by experiencing a variety of tournament sites."
The season launches Sunday at the Argent Financial Classic, hosted by Louisiana Tech in Ruston.
The Wildcats won a conference crown in 2022 and hope to get back to that standard after a less-experienced roster finished eighth in the WAC in 2023.
Coming back this season are senior Zane Heusel, juniors Charlie Jackson and Jaime Lewis and sophomores Thomas Buisson, Brian Comegys, Grégoire Hoyeau and Jamie Lewis. Hoyeau leads the group in scoring average at 74.94. Heusel averaged 785.19, Buisson averaged 75.21, Lewis came in at 75.50, Jackson at 75.67 and Comegys at 76.39.
The players Head Coach Tom Shaw looks to as leaders are his senior and juniors.
"The leaders would have to be Zane Heusel, Charlie Jackson, and Jaime Lewis," said Shaw. "They all bring different leadership qualities to the program and have the most experience on a team that is still made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores."
That being said, the competition for starting spots should be fierce.
"Zane is our most experienced returner and has the capability of being a first-team All-WAC player," Shaw said. "This is a big opportunity for him to finish out his college career in style. Our sophomores Buisson, Hoyeau, and Comegys each should provide some quality finishes throughout the season and give our lineup some firepower week after week. This team has more depth than we've ever had, so it is hard to say who will be in the lineup week by week. The qualifying process in Abilene will be ultra-competitive! Every single player on the team will be capable of earner a starting roster spot."
Newcomers will be in the hunt for spots in the scoring five as well. Freshmen Preston Cooper and Preston DeFriend join the squad along with Tennessee transfer Trenton Johnson.
"I expect all of them to contribute this year, especially Trenton Johnson, who has big-time experience and maturity that should help our program in many ways," Shaw said of the new Wildcats.
Several Wildcats sharpened their skills over the summer.
"Brian Comegys won the TXGA Father-Son with his dad," said Shaw. "Brian was probably the best player in the whole field in the tournament, highlighted by making 10 birdies on the final day to help his team win the event by nine shots. Gregoire Hoyeau, however, had our team's best summer, excelling in several national tournaments in Europe, including top-10 finishes in the Biarritz Cup and the Dutch Amateur Championship."
There's still work to do this fall as the team prepares for the WAC Tournament next spring.
"We need to putt better, chip better, and wedge it better," said Shaw. "We have the facility to accomplish that very thing! The team just was not able to transfer their skills to tournament sites last year. Our inexperience showed as well, with three or four freshmen playing every event. We now have the depth and experience to be better prepared as we launch our new tournament season."
The schedule gets going this month in Louisiana and it includes some challenges.
"The schedule is a good one, with some familiar venues and a few new events mixed in," Shaw said. "The team loves opening our fall season at Squire Creek in Ruston, Louisiana, and then going out to Western North Carolina. I know the guys are looking forward to the Cancun trip in early February. In March, the University of Arizona's tournament will be the highlight and April sees us returning to Ohio State, which was an incredible trip last year. As usual, we try to expose the team to courses in different parts of the country to help develop their skills. To be an elite player, your game has to travel and we want to prepare them for that by experiencing a variety of tournament sites."
The season launches Sunday at the Argent Financial Classic, hosted by Louisiana Tech in Ruston.
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