DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. — BYU men’s golf (295-290-282–867) wrapped up The Bryson Invitational on Wednesday in 14th place after a 6-under-par final round at Daniel Island Club.
“Coaches and players did a poor job preparing for this event,” said head coach Bruce Brockbank. "The golf course was awesome, but we just didn’t handle the bermuda grass and the wet conditions very well. Really struggled with our short games and putting this week. What made it really bad was the way we finished our rounds. Today was better, but a very poor finish."
Taking home the title after holding possession of the lead the entire event was Vanderbilt (278-280-276–834), who had the best day three score of 12-under par. The Commodores made eight eagles and 60 birdies in the event, which led the field in both categories on their way to a 30-under-par final score.
Seven shots shy of Vanderbilt and sharing the runner-up spot are Wake Forest (280-284-277–841) and Duke (281-280-280–841) at 23-under par. The Demon Deacons finished the closing round with 11-under par and the Blue Devils carded an 8-under par on the day. Kansas’ (280-279-283–842) 5-under-par round earned the Jayhawks a fourth-place finish at 22-under-par. Host South Carolina (287-278-286–851) capped the top five at 13-under par.
Kihei Akina (72-74-69–215) finished tied for 29th, 27 places higher than where he began the final round on Wednesday. To get there, the freshman recorded a 3-under 69 on Wednesday, which included an eagle on the 14th hole, a par-4, to finish 1-under par for the event.
“I hit the driver well today and gave myself a lot of looks,” said Akina. “I played smart and kept the scorecard clean for the most part.”
Peter Kim (79-70-70–219) placed tied for 51st after posting a 2-under-par day, for a 54-hole total of 3-over par. Kim’s score of 70 in back-to-back rounds catapulted him 29 spots up the leaderboard.
Simon Kwon (74-71-75–220) carded a 3-over-par closing round to tie for 59th at 4-over par. Tyson Shelley (74-76-71–221) finished 5-over par and had his best round on Daniel Island with a 1-under par to tie for 63rd.
To cap off his season debut, Angus Klintworth (75-75-72–222) posted an even-par final round to finish tied for 67th at 6-over par.
“A lot to improve and clean up on,” said Akina. “This was a good experience to learn more about playing on the East Coast on different grass than the team is used to.”
BYU looks forward to The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate at Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California, on Oct. 27-28.