ABILENE -- For the first time in Mike Campbell's seven-year tenure as the ACU men's golf coach, the Wildcats are the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA Division II South Central Region.
The first regional rankings of the season were released Friday, and the Wildcats sit atop the region ahead of No. 2 Dallas Baptist, No. 3 Central Missouri, No. 4 St. Mary's and No. 5 Midwestern State.
The second five is led by No. 6 St. Edward's, followed by No. 7 Cameron, No. 8 Central Oklahoma, No. 9 Newman (Kan.) and No. 10 East Central.
The Wildcats -- who are back in action Monday at the UCO / Kickingibrd Classic in Edmond, Okla. -- have played in four tournaments this spring and have three top-four finishes and one 12th-place finish under their belt.
In fact, only two teams from their region -- Midwestern State and St. Mary's -- have finished ahead of the Wildcats in any tournament this spring. MSU won the Dallas Baptist Patriot Invitational last week with St. Mary's finishing third and ACU fourth.
The Lone Star Conference championship tournament -- which ACU hasn't won since the 1995 season -- will be played April 18-20 at the WinStar Golf Course in Thackerville, Okla., while the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament will be played May 3-5 at The Territory Golf Course in Duncan, Okla.
The Wildcats have had a lot of success at both of those courses during the 2009-10 season.
Earlier this spring, the Wildcats won the Red River Intercollegiate and
Alex Carpenter won the individual championship at WinStar. Last fall, the Wildcats finished third at The Territory Classic and Carpenter won the individual championship at the tournament.
