CARLSBAD, Calif. — No. 22 BYU men’s golf recorded an 8-over 296 in the first round to open the NCAA Championship on Friday tied for 22nd at Omni La Costa Resort.
“There was a lot of emotion in our round yesterday, and we definitely saw a dip in our energy and our play today,” director of golf Todd Miller said. “We were not sharp with our irons shots, and putts we normally make didn’t fall. Looking at the leaderboard, it doesn’t look like we have a great chance of making the initial cut to 15, but we were in a similar position last year and made it. I believe our Sunday round on Thursday will hold up, but we need a solid team score tomorrow.”
UCLA concluded the opening round on top at 8-under. Top-ranked Auburn turned in a 4-under-par round and found itself in second, with No. 14 Pepperdine right behind the Tigers in third at 3-under par. Duke and San Diego capped off the day sharing the fourth spot at 2-under par.
Kihei Akina finished the day with a 3-under 69 and sits tied for ninth. Akina led the team with five birdies to go along with 11 pars in his opening round.
Simon Kwon ended the day with a share of 35th at even-par and posted four birdies on his scorecard.
Parker Bunn carded a 5-over 77 to be tied for 116th. Peter Kim capped off his opening round with a 6-over 78, and Tyson Shelley was right behind him with a 7-over 79. Kim and Shelley concluded Friday tied for 130th and 139th, respectively.
“We had a great team meeting after our round today and I believe these guys will show up tomorrow," said Miller.
The Cougars tee off in round two of the National Championship on Saturday at 12:50 p.m. MDT. Follow live scoring on Scoreboard, with live coverage of the round beginning on the Golf Channel at 1:30 p.m. MDT.