Cougars take third at Bearcat Invitational; Kim, Z. Jones, and Akina with top 25 finishes

BYU men’s golf carded a 281, 3-under, in today’s final round of the Bearcat Invitational to take third in the first tournament of the 2023-24 season.

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CINCINNATI, Ohio – BYU men’s golf carded a 281, 3-under, in today’s final round of the Bearcat Invitational to take third in the first tournament of the 2023-24 season. 

The Cougars scorecard featured rounds of 281-287-281–849 to finish the tournament 3-under. Chattanooga took home the trophy after shooting 276-283-279–838 to finish 14-under. Louisville moved into second place with rounds of 286-277-283–846 (-6). 

Freshman Peter Kim snatched his first top-five finish after carding rounds of 68-73-68–209, finishing his first collegiate tournament at 4-under and tied for fifth.

“It was a great performance from freshman Peter Kim,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “He helped the team big time as he stepped up, hit some great shots and grabbed the top-five finish.”

Junior Zac Jones started the season with a top 10 finish as he tied for ninth (68-73-70–211, -2). 

“We have what seems like an entirely new team,” said Jones. “The dynamic has changed in our first event playing together. Even though we didn’t make a lot of putts as a team, we had a solid finish.” 

Keanu Akina grabbed a top-25 finish as he carded rounds of 75-71-69–215, ending 2-over and in a tie for 22nd. The senior secured five birdies in round three to move up 23 places on the leaderboard. 

Freshman Cooper Jones (72-70-74–216; +3) and senior Cole Ponich (73-76-74–223; +10) rounded out the Cougar squad, and each contributed to the team’s 13 birdies in the final round. 

The Cougars will tee it up on Sept. 25-26 at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the University of New Mexico South Golf Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico.