BREMERTON, Wash. – BYU men’s golf (272-280–552) shot 24-under par in the opening two rounds to hold a six-shot lead over Utah at The Tindall at Gold Mountain Golf Club on Monday.
“This is an incredible team, and they have a great mindset every time they compete,” said director of golf Todd Miller. “We hit a lot of fairways and greens and were patient all day. When we got in trouble, we chipped out and got up and down a lot.”
The Cougars led the field in par four scoring, birdies and par five scoring on day one to help them sit atop the leaderboard after 36 holes. Behind them is Utah (277-281–558) in second at 18-under par and San Diego (284-279–563) at 13-under par to round out the top three.
Junior Peter Kim (68-67–135) led the Cougars on day one sitting in second place at 9-under par. After making five birdies in round one and seven in round two, Kim sits just one shot off the lead held by Utah's Gabriel Palacios. Kim finished day one tied for first in par three scoring and second in total birdies made.
“I struck the ball really well, especially with my irons and wedges,” said Kim. “I stayed patient all day long even when the putts weren’t dropping. I would say my biggest strength is distance control with my irons and that was key on the par 3’s today. We had the coaches help out on the par 3’s and that helped a lot also. We need to stick to our gameplan and continue to drive the ball well. A lot of fairways and a lot of greens will be a good focus for us tomorrow.”
Preseason All-American Kihei Akina (67-70–137) carded a 7-under par total as he holds solo fifth after two rounds. Akina made 11 birdies, six in the first 18 and five in the next 18, to help him lead all players in par four scoring average on day one.
“The team got off to a really solid start,” said Akina. “It’s good to have multiple people at the top in contention. We need to stick to our process and game plan and give ourselves as many birdie looks as we can.”
Senior Simon Kwon (67-71–138) tied for sixth after 36 holes by shooting 6-under par. Kwon recorded six birdies in round one and then added to his birdie count with three more in round two.
Freshman Parker Bunn (70-72–142) made seven birdies to help him hold a share of 17th on the day at 2-under par. On his first go-around on hole six, Bunn made an eagle on the 563-yard par-5 making him the first Cougar to card an eagle this season.
Senior Tyson Shelley (73-73–146) is currently tied for 45th after shooting 2-over par. The first round saw Shelley drain two birdies before making four birdies in round two to help elevate his score.
“We need to continue to hit fairways tomorrow, find the center of the green and play simple, clean golf,” said Miller. “I feel like we can do a little better job, taking advantage of some of the par 5s and the drivable par 4, hole 18. These guys are excited to get after it tomorrow.”
The final round is set to tee off on Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. MST. Live scoring will be available on Scoreboard with updates on Instagram and X accounts.