SUGAR LAND, Texas - Abilene Christian men's golf notched its fourth consecutive top-four finish with a second-place showing at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational on Tuesday. The Wildcats carded a 16-over 868 at Sweetwater Country Club, closing out two strokes shy of champion New Mexico Junior College's 14-over 866.
ACU was in the driver's seat after Monday's first two rounds at 4-over 572, but the Thunderbirds, the eighth-ranked NJCAA program, trailed by six strokes and fired a 4-over 288 in the final round. The Wildcats logged a 12-over 296 on Tuesday and were supplanted by NMJC for the top spot in the 14-team field.
ACU was powered by a pair of top-10 finishers in
Jaime Lewis and
Preston DeFriend. Lewis tied for fifth place at 2-over 215, his best outing in the past two seasons and his third top-10 performance. DeFriend was right behind with a 3-over 216, good for ninth place and his first-ever top-10 finish.
After scoring a 2-over 73 in Monday's opening round, Lewis remained level at even par in the next two rounds. DeFriend played his best in the second round with a 3-under 68, tied for the lowest score of the round.
Lewis and DeFriend tallied eight birdies each as Lewis was the field's top golfer on par 3s at 1-under. DeFriend completed those holes at even par, tying for second place, as the Wildcats finished a tournament-best 5-over on par 3s. ACU also tied to pick up the most pars with 167.
The Wildcats closed out in the top five on par 4s and par 5s while recording the third-most birdies with 38.
Jack Hollingsed tied for 13th place at 6-over 219 after logging the second-lowest score of the first round at 3-under 68. He led the Wildcats with 10 birdies across the tournament and performed the best in the field on par 5s, finishing 5-under.
Colin Leonard and Grégoire Hoyeau rounded out ACU in ties for 33rd and 39th place, respectively. Leonard carded a 12-over 225 with Hoyeau on his heels at 13-over 226.
The Wildcats return to the course on March 10-11 at the South Texas Match Play in McAllen, hosted by UT-Rio Grande Valley at McAllen Country Club.
