KAUA’I, Hawai’i — BYU leads the John A. Burns Intercollegiate after 27 holes of play following a 23-under par opening day with Keanu Akina, David Timmins and Max Brenchley each sitting in the top-5 at the Ocean Course at Hōkūala.

“Today was one of the most fun days I’ve had on the golf course in my 17 years of coaching,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “It was a shotgun start today and our team started on the most difficult stretch of the course, which worked to our advantage because we got to play the hardest holes with the least amount of wind. Once we got through that stretch, the lid came off the hole and the guys started pouring in birdies.”

The Cougars played the par-5s in 26-under and the par-4s in 5-under par, making 36 birdies and four eagles en route to a 23-under-par round to lead No. 19 Arizona (-22) by a shot. New Mexico sits in third at 14-under with UTEP at 12-under-par through 27 holes. No. 9 Texas A&M rounds out the top five at 11-under.

Keanu Akina led the way for the Cougars in his home state, as he fired a 9-under-par total through the first 27 holes. Akina carded five birdies and an eagle in his opening round before birdieing four of his first eight holes in round two.

David Timmins sits one shot back of Akina at 8-under par. The senior recorded eight birdies and an eagle with four setbacks in round one to go into round two at 6-under. After an opening bogey in round two, Timmins birdied three of his next six holes and sits in solo fourth going into the round two restart tomorrow.

Max Brenchley, playing as an individual, is tied for fifth after day one at 7-under-par. The junior shot a bogey-free 7-under in round one. After a slow start to his second 18, he has climbed back to even par in round two, 7-under on the day.

Carson Lundell is the fourth Cougar who sits inside the top-25 after day one. The fifth-year senior posted a two-under 70 in round one before carding two birdies in round two. With the 2-under start, Lundell has vaulted himself into a tie for 19th where he will begin his round tomorrow on the par-5 fourth hole.

Tyson Shelley sits at 1-under in a tie for 39th, with Zac Jones one behind at even-par. Elijah Turner rounds out the scoring for the Cougars, as an individual competitor at 1-over.

Round two play will resume at 8:30 a.m. HST as the Cougars look to hold onto the lead entering the final round.

Individual Leaderboard

*Through 9 holes of round two

Team Leaderboard (Top 5)

*21-Team Field

PROVO, Utah — Coming off a fourth-place finish in Arizona, No. 53 BYU men’s golf will be back in action at the 46th John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course at Hōkūala, Feb. 16-18.

Carson Lundell, David Timmins, Zac Jones, Tyson Shelley, Keanu Akina, Max Brenchley and Elijah Turner will tee it up in BYU’s 32nd trip to the Burns Intercollegiate where the Cougars have won twice (2000, 2007).

With Zac Jones taking home the individual title in Arizona and the Cougars finishing fourth, BYU is ready to join the 21-team field in Hawai'i that includes three West Coast Conference foes.

The University of Hawai’i will play host to No. 19 Arizona, No. 56 Cal, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, No. 57 Long Beach State, LMU, Nevada, No. 63 New Mexico, Sacramento State, No. 20 San Diego State, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, No. 10 Texas A&M, UNC Wilmington, UNLV, USC, UTEP and Washington State.

The field will also feature last year’s runner-up and 2022 U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett of Texas A&M, 2022 Burns Intercollegiate champion Aaron Du of Cal and 12 players ranked inside the Golfstat top-100.

The 54-hole event will be contested at the Ocean Course at Hōkūala, which features the longest continuous stretch of oceanfront holes in Hawai’i. Teams will play 18-holes per day at the par-72, 7,156-yard track which will provide a stern test for some of the top-ranked teams in the country.

The first round of play will begin at 8:30 HST on Thursday, Feb. 16 with live scoring available at golfstat.com.