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ABILENE – Achieving your highest potential at the right moment is something every coach works at while preparing their athletes. Just like other traditional powers around the ACU campus the Wildcat golf team is looking to make their run starting this weekend at the Lone Star Conference Championships in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
Head Coach Mike Campbell and the ACU golf team will make their run at the first LSC Championship since 1995. A team with one all-America and a freshmen rated nationally in the top 20 has ACU primed to take home their first title in over a decade.
“If we play really well, like the way we're capable of playing we are up there with the top teams and have a good chance of winning this weekend,” said Campbell.
After a slow start in California the Wildcats have responded with two tournament victories, a runner-up finish and a place in the top 5 during the spring.
“We had really bad weather to start the season, so our guys didn't get to see much of the golf course early. But now that we have been able to get out there and we're playing really well,” Campbell said.
A team that has shown they are very capable of playing well is indicated by their two tournaments wins this spring. The latest came April, 6 when and trio of Wildcats including Cyril Bouniol and Tyler Sheppard fired a 67 and 68 respectively in the last two rounds propelling ACU to a six stroke victory at the UCO/Kickingbird Classic.
The first win of the season for ACU came on the very same course they will face this weekend at the WinStar Golf Course. ACU was led by freshmen Alex Carpenter, who led from start to finish, under very rainy and windy conditions. Carpenter's championship eventually came on the heels of a playoff winning on the second hole over Midwestern's Mitch Molen.
However it has not been a two horse team for ACU. Fellow freshmen Kyle Dickerson, Adam Carpenter, and Sheppard have played their way into four top 10 finishes helping ACU claim two tournament titles and a runner-up finish.
With all the success that has come to Alex Carpenter he has been challenged by a fellow Wildcat for the past 19 years, twin brother Adam. While Alex has more tournament wins in their first season at ACU it was Adam who set the tone for the freshmen class.
Adam picked up a win in the fall at the Charles W. Coody Intercollegiate in Abilene. The following week Alex picked up his first collegiate win at the Territory Classic which also happens to be the site of this year's South Central Regional.
“We have been hitting the ball really well and winning at a place you have already been just helps our
confidence and pushes us closer to reaching our goals to bringing home a championship,” responded Alex after asking him about playing a course he has already won.
So while the Wildcats continue to play well at the right time, others have started to notice as well. ACU has moved back into the Nike / Golf World Coaches poll at No. 21. And for the past few weeks ACU has been ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region.
Given the recent success it seems as though the Wildcats are definitely peaking at the right time. With a high level of confidence and even more talent this group of Wildcats looks poised to make history.
