BYU, Lundell take second at Nick Watney Invitational

MADERA, Calif. – BYU men’s golf took second as a team and freshman Carson Lundell took second individually at the Nick Watney Invitational in Madera, California Tuesday.

Lundell shot a 65 (-7) in the final round to pass BYU teammate Rhett Rasmussen, who finished third, and take sole possession of second place. His score in the final round is his lowest to date as a Cougar and the lowest this season for any BYU golfer. His total score of 204 (-12) is also the lowest of any Cougar this season over three rounds of golf. This is Lundell’s second-consecutive top-10 finish and his first-ever top-five finish, after tying for sixth place at the William H. Tucker Invitational last week.

Rasmussen hit an impressive 69 (-3) in the final round to give BYU two of the top-three finishes at the tournament, and earn just his fifth top-five finish in his BYU career. This is also his second-consecutive top-10 finish and ninth overall. Sophomore Chad Hardy made a run in the final round with a 68 (-4) to tie for eighth place and round out the Cougars’ top-10 finishes.

Individual competitor Austin Banz dropped slightly in the final round with a score of 73 (+1) to put him in 15th, and Kelton Hirsch gave the Cougars their final top-20 finisher in 19th place, with a 70 (-2) in the final round. The champion of last week’s tournament, Peter Kuest, made a solid recovery with a 70 (-2) in the third round and came in 32nd place.

Overall, the Cougars had a total team score of 835, beating their first-place score of 848 at the Tucker Invitational by 13 points. BYU finished just one stroke behind first place Nevada. West Coast Conference foes Gonzaga and Pacific found themselves in 10th and 11th by the end of the tournament, with scores of 884 and 885, respectively.

The Cougars’ schedule takes them to Vestavia Hills, Alabama next, where they will compete in the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate Oct. 8-9. Live stats and the leaderboard can be found on Golfstat.

Day One Recap