TUCSON, Ariz. — BYU men’s golf (279-289-276–844) tied Saint Mary’s (280-281-283–844) for fourth place at 20-under par at the Arizona N.I.T. at Omni Tucson National Resort on Tuesday.
“The team had some bright spots, especially the last 12 holes of the tournament,” said director of golf Todd Miller. “We challenged them to finish with their best golf of the tournament, and they did, making 19 birdies in that stretch of holes.”
Texas (275-270-278–823) with its 10-under-par final round triumphed over host Arizona (267-288-269–824) by one stroke for the N.I.T. title. Iowa State (284-285-266–835) notched the lowest scoring third round out of all schools to climb to a third-place finish. The Gaels and Cougars shared fourth to cap off the top-5 finishers. BYU recorded its best score of the tournament with a 12-under-par round three to stay in the top five.
Kihei Akina (67-71-69–207) concluded his first event of 2026 tied for fifth overall at 9-under par. Thanks to the freshman’s 3-under-par day, he tallied his second top-5 finish in six collegiate tournaments in his career. Both of Akina’s top-5 placements have come in back-to-back events dating back to a T-5 finish in The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in October.
“I definitely did a great job of playing smart golf to avoid any big numbers,” Akina said. “I hit the ball solid, and it was a solid start to the season. NIT is a great tournament run by a great host. The course was in good shape, and it was nice to play golf in good weather.”
“Kihei’s greatest strength is his consistency with his ball striking, and he showed that again this week,” Miller said. “Very rarely was he out of position off the tee.”
With a 3-under-par final round, Tyson Shelley (71-72-69–212) ended his play in Tucson tied for 25th at 4-under par. This marks the 16th top-25 finish in Shelley’s career including four from this season.
Peter Kim (71-74-68–213) posted a 4-under-par round three, the lowest scoring round for any Cougar Tuesday, to help him finish with a share of 30th at 3-under par.
Simon Kwon (71-72-73–216) carded an even-par tournament score to put him at a tie for 42nd.
Freshman Jackson Mauss’ (70-78-70–218) 2-under-par final round brought him to 2-over par for the event which tied for 47th.
While participating as an individual, junior Angus Klintworth (75-72-76–223) tied for 61st overall at 7-over par.
“We will be doing a lot of short game work in preparation for Hawaii,” Miller said.
“Not very satisfied with a few parts of my game,” Akina said. “I want to be able to clean up some short game issues and work on that before Hawaii. A lot of positive things to take as well. We’ll get to work as a team and get ready for Hawaii.”
Next up for the Cougars is a trip across the Pacific to Lihue, Hawaii for the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at Ocean Course at Hokuala on Feb. 12-14.