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WAYNESVILLE, N.C. - Abilene Christian men's golf breaks the seal on the 2025-26 campaign at the JT Poston Invitational at Waynesville Inn and Golf Club from Sunday through Tuesday. Hosted by Western Carolina, the tournament will feature one round on each day of action between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains.
Play begins at 8 a.m. CT each day at the par-70, 6,720-yard course.
The Wildcats embark on their 12th season under head coach
Tom Shaw after recording seven top-five performances last year. They carded runner-up showings at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, Colin Montgomerie Invitational and South Texas Match Play before coming in fifth at the Western Athletic Conference Championship.
ACU joins a 15-team field featuring six programs that finished within the top three of their respective conference tournaments last season. Elon is the lone reigning conference champion, advancing to the NCAA Bremerton Regional. Drexel, Xavier, Western Carolina, UT Rio Grande Valley and Kennesaw State also landed in their conference's top three.
Defending champion Lipscomb, Virginia Tech, Southern Miss, Morehead State, James Madison, Wofford, Jacksonville and Francis Marion round out the field.
ACU returns to the JT Poston Invitational after competing at the event in 2022 and 2023 when it was held at The Country Club of Sapphire Valley in Sapphire, N.C.
Preston Cooper, Grégoire Hoyeau and
Thomas Buisson each represented the Wildcats two seasons ago as they placed 12th. ACU finished in 10th in 2022 with Buisson in the lineup.
The Wildcats will trot out a lineup captained by Hoyeau, last season's All-WAC Second Team honoree, followed by Oklahoma City graduate transfer
Tres Hill, Buisson,
Jack Hollingsed and
Colin Leonard.
Hoyeau begins his senior campaign on the heels of an eighth-place effort at the 2025 WAC Championship, one of two top-10 outings in team events for the Paris native. He tied for eighth at the Bentwater Intercollegiate while drawing for second at the Oklahoma Spring Indy.Â
With four top-10 performances in the past two years, Hoyeau led the Wildcats to top-five placements at five of the six team stroke play tournaments he competed in last season. He was named the Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Men's Golfer of the Week after earning 12th place at Los Vaqueros Intercollegiate.
Hill is one of three newcomers to ACU's roster following four seasons at Oklahoma City University. He capped his Stars career with First Team All-American honors from the NAIA and PING as a senior in 2024-25 while being named the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
Hill was the second-ranked NAIA golfer in the nation last season, per Clippd, guiding national runner-up Oklahoma City to the top spot in the final NAIA team rankings. As a junior, he earned Second Team All-American recognition from the NAIA and Third Team All-American distinction from PING.
Buisson competed in five events for the Wildcats in 2024-25, headlined by a tie for 25th place at the FAU Golf Invitational. The senior has participated in 23 career tournaments at the Division I level, the most on the team.
Sophomores Hollingsed and Leonard each built promising freshman campaigns last season as they combined to compete in 18 events. Hollingsed carded four top-15 showings, including ninth place at the FAU Golf Invitational and 14th at the WAC Championship.
Leonard placed in the top 20 on three occasions, powered by a tie for fourth place at the FAU Golf Invitational. In the summer, he set the course record of 11-under 61 at Quicksand Golf Course in San Angelo, Texas.
Juniors Cooper and
Preston DeFriend and senior
Niklas Blalock are the Wildcats' three additional returners from 2024-25. Cooper placed in the top 10 at three tournaments and received Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Men's Golfer of the Week accolades following a sixth-place performance at the Bentwater Intercollegiate.
DeFriend closed his sophomore season on a high note with a tie for sixth place at the WAC Championship to pace the Wildcats. It was his second top-10 outing after claiming ninth at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational.
Brady Mann and
Max Clarke are in their first years on campus as freshmen. Mann, a Texas product, led Bridgeport High School to the UIL Class 4A state championship in May 2024. Clarke hails from Auckland, New Zealand and was a semifinalist in the 2024 New Zealand Men's Amateur Championship. He also finished fifth in the 2024 Auckland Secondary Schools Championship.
