After placing a disappointing ninth at the Big 12 golf tournament a few weeks ago in Oklahoma, BYU’s No. 33-ranked men’s golf team vowed that things would be different in the NCAA Regionals this week at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, Nevada.
Boy, were they right.
In one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the history of coach Bruce Brockbank’s program, the Cougars not only finished in the top five in Reno to qualify for the the NCAA Finals later this month, they won the whole thing.
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BYU fired a 54-hole total of 15-under (low four scores count each round) and edged No. 9 Virginia by four shots for the team title. Fourth-ranked Texas was third, while No. 40 San Diego was fourth and unranked California fifth.
Also, BYU senior Cole Ponich, the 2024 Utah State Amateur champion, placed second in the individual race, finishing at 7-under and three shots behind medalist Paul Chang of Virginia.
BYU’s Peter Kim was fifth at -5, while teammate Zac Jones was 11th at -1.
Cal transfer Simon Kwon, the 2023 State Am champ, was 25th at +3, while Tyson Shelley was 39th at +4. Shelley shot a 1-under 71 on Wednesday, while Ponich was firing a 5-under 67 to vault up the leaderboard.
Heavy winds delayed the start of the first round multiple times on Monday, and weather conditions throughout the three days were mostly miserable.
“The guys have embraced the weather,” BYU director of golf Todd Miller said after play was suspended Tuesday due to darkness. “We have had snow, sleet, rain, snow and unplayable winds. The first round, the team played smart golf in high winds. When the wind died down, the guys started making putts from everywhere. It was a long, incredible day of golf. I’m happy for the guys.”
The Reno Regional was won of six 54-hole regionals; the top five teams in each regional will comprise the 30-team field for the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California. That event runs from May 23-28 and will utilize a combined stroke play and match play format to determine the national champion.
Because the final round of stroke play falls on a Sunday (May 25), BYU will play its “final round” on May 22, by itself, before the tournament proper begins on May 23. That’s what it did the last time it qualified for the NCAA Championships, back in 2023.
