SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — BYU men’s golf completed its Sunday round of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship on Thursday shooting a 10-over-par 290 at Grayhawk Golf Club. To accommodate BYU’s longstanding policy of not competing on Sunday, the NCAA made provisions for the Cougars to play Sunday’s third round of the championship on Thursday afternoon.
After each of the other 29 teams in the championship field completed their practice round on Thursday morning, BYU began its quest for a national championship by posting its third-round score. Each of the five Cougars played the 7,289-yard, par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club with a marker for scoring purposes, but unaccompanied by another competitor.
“It’s really hard to know how our scores today will stack up against the other teams rounds come Sunday,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “This is a resilient team and I expect to see great things out of them the next few days. I feel like our guys did a much better job handling the pressure of the opening round than we have in the past."
Cole Ponich posted the round of the day for BYU as the junior carded a 1-under 69. Ponich was 2-over after three holes but made three birdies down the stretch to finish as the only Cougar under par on Thursday.
"I was 2-over through three but I felt like I hadn’t made a bad swing," said Ponich. "I just told myself to keep hitting fairways and good things will happen. I made about a 10-foot putt for birdie on four and that really settled me into the round. I did a good job the rest of the round keeping it in play and was fortunate to make a few really good putts on the back nine."
David Timmins and Max Brenchley each posted 3-over-par 73s, Carson Lundell carded a 75 and Tyson Shelley finished with a 76 to round out the BYU scoring.
The Cougars tee off Friday morning with the rest of the 30-team field in round one. BYU will be paired with Liberty and North Florida with the first tee time scheduled for 7:27 a.m. PDT. Live scoring will be available through golfstat.com.
Individual Leaderboard
| Place | Player | R1 | Total | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| --- | Cole Ponich | 69 | 69 | -1 |
| --- | David Timmins | 73 | 73 | +3 |
| --- | Max Brenchley | 73 | 73 | +3 |
| --- | Carson Lundell | 75 | 75 | +5 |
| --- | Tyson Shelley | 76 | 76 | +6 |