ACU's Carpenter Wins 18th Career Title
By: Eric Boynton
Updated: March 13, 2013
MISSION
VIEJO, Calif. -- The incomparable Alex Carpenter continued his blistering start
to the 2013 spring season Tuesday as he set the course record at the Mission
Viejo Country Club en route to winning his 18th career individual medalist
title.
Carpenter shot a career-low round of 63 Tuesday as
he rallied from five shots back to win the individual title by five strokes over
Jered Stone of Cal State-Monterey Bay. The previous course record was a 68, and
before Tuesday, Carpenter's career-best round was a 64.
But
Carpenter blistered the par-71 course on Tuesday to win the individual medalist
title for the second straight week. After firing rounds of 1-over-par 71 in
each of Monday's two rounds, Carpenter's 8-under-par 63 on Tuesday left him at
6-under-par 207 for the tournament and a winner by nine shots over Stone, who
fired a 67 of his own on Tuesday after shooting rounds of 74-75 on
Monday.
Carpenter made his living on the par-3s and the
par-5s on Monday and Tuesday as he played the par-3s at 3-under and the par-5s
at 5-under. He led the tournament in birdies with 16 and eagles with two, and
he was second in par-4 scoring at plus-two.
ACU --
ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Division II rankings -- finished fourth as a
team behind team champion Cal State-Stanislaus, which shot rounds of 292-297-302
for an 891 total. Cal State-Monterey Bay was second at 894 (298-310-286),
followed by Grand Canyon at 905 (296-307-302) in third and ACU at 907
(309-304-294) in fourth.
Corbin
Renner finished tied for 19th for ACU at 229 (77-79-73), while Ian Evans was
tied for 24th at 232 (79-77-76). Trey Sullivan was fourth among his teammates
at 242, while Kyle Dickerson was tied for 76th.
ACU is
off until March 25-26 when the Wildcats play in the Arkansas-Little Rock / First
Tee Classic at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark., which is Carpenter's
hometown.
