PROVO, Utah — In Bruce Brockbank’s final year at the helm, top-ranked freshman Kihei Akina, Simon Kwon and Peter Kim led BYU men’s golf to three team wins, three individual titles, nine top-5 outings and an NCAA Championship appearance this season.
“I was really pleased with our season,” head coach Todd Miller said. “We had team victories, individual wins, and we stepped up big at regionals to make it to the national championship.”
The Cougars opened the season at The Wohali in Coalville, Utah. Kwon assisted the team to a fourth-place finish by tying for fifth at 6-under par. Akina tied for 10th to pick up his first career top-10 finish.
At The Tindall, BYU was victorious with a 37-under-par total to capture its first win of the season. Kim collected his second individual title in as many seasons, as his 14-under-par finish made him a co-champion in the event. Kwon shared the third spot at 10-under par, and Akina posted a 7-under total to tie for sixth.
“I would definitely say our win at Washington’s tournament was one of the most satisfying moments this season,” said Miller. “Most seasons, you have tournaments that you win, but very rarely do you ever play a tournament without any doubles. It was one of the cleanest team performances I’ve ever seen, and to top it off, Peter Kim got another individual win.”
Kwon’s hot start to the season continued at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, the senior tied for seventh at 3-over par to help BYU take home third place.
The Cougars traveled to the East Coast for The Bryson Invitational at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina. Akina tied for 29th in the event while the team finished 14th.
With three top-5 finishes, BYU earned another team triumph at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in Carmel, California. Tyson Shelley carded an 11-under par total to tie the best 54-hole score of his career and match his career-best finish of third. Kwon and Akina shared fifth in the win.
“Having three guys finish in the top-5 at Cal Poly‘s event, and seeing Tyson Shelley have one of his career-best collegiate finishes was also awesome to witness,” Miller said.
The first tournament of the spring season was a fourth-place finish at the Arizona N.I.T. Akina concluded the event in a tie for fifth at 9-under par.
In Hawaii, BYU took ninth at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate while Akina was once again the top performer on the squad, carding a 4-under par in his home state.
The R.E. Lamkin Invitational is where Akina’s March Madness began. After making his first-ever PGA Tour cut two days before at the Puerto Rico Open, the star freshman picked up his first collegiate win at 14-under par in San Diego to lift the Cougars to a third-place finish.
BYU secured its third win in impressive fashion in Coach Miller's hometown. At the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational at Silverado Country Club, the Cougars set program record books twice with the lowest single-round score in program history, a 26-under in the final round, and the lowest 54-hole score at 54-under par on their way to victory.
Akina notched a school record 21-under par in his second career win. Kim finished runner-up with a career-best 16-under total, including a program record 11-under-par final round. In addition, Shelley tied for fifth at 7-under par with all five players finishing inside the top-20.
“I think the most fun day we had all year was the final day of the Bridgestone tournament at Silverado, where I grew up,” Miller said. “There were so many great things that happened that day. We won the tournament by a huge margin, Kihei Akina won his second collegiate tournament, and Peter Kim fired a 61. When the tournament was over, we all sat out on the patio, enjoying good food and reliving all the great shots.”
In the same week as the Bridgestone, Akina nabbed an 11-under-par second place in The Goodwin to cap off an explosive March. BYU took fourth place at Stanford Golf Course.
The 79th Western Intercollegiate saw the Cougars tie for third in the presence of World Golf Hall of Famer and former Cougar legend Johnny Miller. Akina kept his hot stretch alive with a fifth-place effort at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Akina soared out of the gates at the Big 12 Championship with a 7-under 63 in round one. The freshman rode the momentum to a runner-up finish at 8-under par to help the team finish seventh at the conference tournament. To this point, Akina was the top finisher on the team in seven consecutive events.
BYU captured a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Athens Regional to move on to the NCAA Championship. Freshman Parker Bunn tied for 10th for his first career top-10 finish at 6-under par.
The season wrapped up with BYU missing the cut into the final round of stroke play at the national championship and taking 18th. Akina moved on individually and took home eighth place at Omni La Costa Resort. With that, the first team All-American accumulated 11 top-10 finishes in 14 tournaments.
Kwon and Shelley concluded their BYU careers as graduating seniors. The Cougars will return eight players to the 2026-27 roster, including sophomore Cooper Jones, who will soon finish his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I love Simon [Kwon] and Tyson [Shelley] and look forward to watching their achievements in life,” Miller said.
BYU will welcome three new faces to the squad next season. Those joining include sophomore David Liechty, a transfer from Utah Tech, freshmen Austin Shelley of Salt Lake City, Drake Harvey of Las Vegas and 2024 signee Lincoln Markham, who, like Jones, will return from his missionary service.
“We have an exceptional group of players returning from missions, coming in as freshmen, and transferring through the portal,” Miller said. “We will have some learning and growing to do, but I believe we will be great.”
“I think our players, coaches, alumni, and donors can all sense that we are getting closer to our ultimate goal of winning another national championship,” Miller said. “It’s extremely difficult to advance through regionals, but we have been doing it consistently. I think our program is feeling more confident in big situations, and that is a big part of us getting over the hurdles in front of us.”