RENO, Nev. – Led by Cole Ponich, the BYU men’s golf team shot 291-275-283 to finish at 15-under and secure a spot in the NCAA Championship on Wednesday night at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
“The guys stepped up to all the weather delays this week,” head coach Bruce Brockbank said. “They played great golf in the most difficult conditions we’ve faced all year. The seniors led our team, especially with Cole finishing runner-up in an event like this. It was a team effort throughout the week. I’m excited for our team.”
Ponich (71-71-67—209) finished second individually at 7-under. He made six birdies and one bogey in his final round, climbing five spots on the leaderboard to close out the 54-hole event.
“It feels great to compete in a tournament where the pressure is high,” Ponich said. “We all handled the tough conditions well. We committed to giving everything we had, and that’s exactly what we did. This result gives us a lot of confidence heading into the championship, but we know we still have work to do. I’m excited to close out my career at BYU with my teammates and coaches at the National Championship.”
The Cougars finished four shots ahead of No. 9 Virginia. No. 4 Texas placed third at 8-under par, while San Diego and California rounded out the final qualifiers for the national championship.
Peter Kim (72-67-72—211) tied for fifth, finishing at 5-under. Kim’s final round included an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. He also made 14 birdies over the three days, the second-most in the field, and averaged 3.83 on par-4 holes, ranking second. This marked his fifth top-five finish of the season.
Senior Zac Jones tied for 11th with rounds of 72-70-73—215, making four birdies in his final round.
Simon Kwon tied for 25th at 3 over par, recording 15 birdies, the most of any individual. Tyson Shelley tied for 39th at 9-over.
As a team, BYU led the field with a par-5 scoring average of 4.73 strokes per hole and 61 total birdies, the most of any team.
BYU will travel to Carlsbad, California, for the NCAA National Championship, set for May 23-28 at Omni La Costa Resort.