ACU Returns to Action at Redhawk Invitational in Pacific Northwest

Monday, March 31

University Place, Wash.

Abilene Christian

Redhawk Invitational

Preston DeFriend swings at the Trinity Forest Invitational at Trinity Forest Golf Club on Oct. 6-8.

ACU Returns to Action at Redhawk Invitational in Pacific Northwest

3/30/2025 3:51:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Luke White

LIVE SCORING

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - No. 120 Abilene Christian men's golf aims for its sixth consecutive top-five performance at the Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay on Monday and Tuesday.

The 11th iteration of the tournament, hosted by Seattle U, will feature 18 teams from across the nation. Lamar joins the Wildcats in representing the Lone Star State, while No. 100 Oregon State, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Sacramento State hail from the West Coast.

George Washington, Penn, Sacred Heart and George Mason are making the cross-country trip, with ACU, Seattle U and Utah Tech representing the Western Athletic Conference. Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, St. Thomas, Idaho and North Idaho College round out the field.

The Wildcats are returning to the course for the first time since March 10-11, when they notched a runner-up finish at the South Texas Match Play. Jaime Lewis, Preston DeFriend and Colin Leonard remain in ACU's lineup for the Redhawk Invitational and are joined by Thomas Buisson and Preston Cooper.

Lewis went 2-1 in McAllen, Texas and is less than a month removed from a fifth-place finish at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational on March 3-4. It was his best performance since the start of the 2023 campaign and his third top-10 showing since then.

DeFriend joined Lewis with a 2-1 outing at the South Texas Match Play and a ninth-place finish at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational. It was the best performance of the Lubbock native's career and his first-ever top-10 effort.

Leonard fired a 1-1-1 performance at the South Texas Match Play and a 34th-place showing at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational. The best finish of his freshman campaign came at the FAU Golf Invitational on Oct. 28-29, 2024, when he tied for fourth in his second collegiate tournament.

Buisson last saw action at the Los Vaqueros Intercollegiate on Feb. 2-4, where he shot 9-over 225 to record a 26th-place effort.

In his last outing, Cooper was named the Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Men's Golfer of the Week following a 1-under 212 performance to finish in sixth place. He began his season by tying for fourth place at 10-under 206 at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 2024.

Each Wildcat will get started at 8 a.m. (PT) Monday. Cooper tees off on hole No. 2 with Lewis and Buisson on No. 3A and DeFriend and Leonard on No. 3B.