ABILENE - Abilene Christian men's golf will compete in 11 regular season tournaments across the country as part of its 2025-26 schedule, the program released on Monday.
The Wildcats will compete in eight different states, ranging from Florida to Washington and North Carolina to Ohio ahead of the Western Athletic Conference Championship in McKinney. ACU will return to four tournaments it took part in last season, in addition to another appearance at the Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Three events are hosted by power conference opponents. ACU recorded six top-four performances last season before placing fifth at the WAC Championship.
"The 2025-26 schedule is one of our best in my time at ACU," head coach
Tom Shaw said. "The team will participate in tournaments from coast to coast across the U.S. and several places in between. We have some familiar staple events, such as the SMU Invitational in Dallas and the Bayou Intercollegiate in Houston, but also some newer events in North Carolina and Arkansas."
The Wildcats will break the seal on the season on Sept. 13-16 at the JT Poston Invitational in Waynesville, N.C. Hosted by Western Carolina at Waynesville Inn and Golf Club, ACU previously competed at the tournament in 2022 and 2023 when it was played in Sapphire, N.C.
Preston Cooper, Grégoire Hoyeau and
Thomas Buisson each represented the Wildcats two seasons ago.
ACU turns its attention to the Bayou City Collegiate Classic in Houston on Sept. 29-30. Hosted by Rice at Westwood Golf Club, the Wildcats have participated in the event in eight of the past 10 seasons. They finished second amongst 11 teams last year, as Cooper tied for fourth place at 10-under 206.
For the seventh time in eight seasons, ACU will compete in the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas on Oct. 5-7. Staged by SMU at Trinity Forest Golf Club, the ninth-ranked course in the state by Golf Digest, five Wildcats on the 2025-26 roster have played in the tournament over ACU's last two trips.
On Oct. 13-14, ACU makes its way back to Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark., where it competed in tournaments in nine of 11 seasons from 2013-22. Little Rock holds the Everett Buick GMC Classic as the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions.
The Wildcats close out the fall slate with a return to the FAU Golf Invitational in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. on Oct. 27-28. Now held at Panther National by Florida Atlantic, ACU logged a third-place showing in 2024 as then-freshmen
Colin Leonard and
Jack Hollingsed finished in fourth and ninth, respectively.
ACU heads to Mobile, Ala. to open its spring schedule at the Hal Williams Collegiate on Feb. 16-17, 2026. South Alabama holds the event at Magnolia Grove's Crossings Course. One week later, on Feb. 23-24, 2026, the Wildcats compete in UTSA's Lone Star Collegiate at TPC San Antonio's Canyons Course.
In the first of three tournaments in the month of March, ACU takes part in the Golden Nugget Invitational in Lake Charles, La. on March 2-3, 2026. Lamar stages the event at The Country Club at Golden Nugget.
On March 16-17, 2026, the Wildcats participate in the All-American Intercollegiate, hosted by Houston at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble. The course holds a history of staging PGA TOUR and LIV Golf events, and ACU is back in the field after competing in 2021 and 2022.
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season just as they did in 2025, with tournaments in Washington state and Ohio. ACU returns to the Redhawk Invitational in University Place, Wash. on March 30-31, 2026.
Reigning WAC champion Seattle U stages the event at Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open and the 17th-ranked public course in the U.S. by Golfweek. The Wildcats retained four golfers that competed in the Redhawk Invitational last season. They tied for second at the event in 2022.
ACU tunes up for the conference tournament at the Robert Kepler Invitational on April 11-12, 2026 held by Ohio State at Columbus Country Club. The Wildcats competed in the event in 2024 and 2023 when it was held at OSU Golf Club. They took part in last season's Buckeye Classic at Columbus Country Club, with three competitors returning this season.
The WAC Championship is slated for April 27-29, 2026 at The Dye Golf Course at Stonebridge Ranch in McKinney, one of the top rated courses in Texas by Golf Digest. ACU looks to build upon back-to-back top-five performances at the conference tournament. Last season,
Preston DeFriend and Hoyeau each placed in the top 10.
"Such a diverse schedule will prepare our team for any of the various NCAA Regional sites that we might be sent to this spring as well as give them some incredible experiences on several top courses in the country," Shaw said.
Following regional play, the NCAA Men's Golf Championship is scheduled for May 29 to June 3, 2026 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Seven Wildcats return from the 2024-25 squad, headlined by Second Team All-WAC honoree Hoyeau. The roster features two freshmen in
Brady Mann and
Max Clarke, as well as 2025 Sooner Athletic Conference Men's Golfer of the Year and NAIA First Team All-American
Tres Hill.
