SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — BYU men's golf opened the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship on Thursday by shooting 23 over par at Grayhawk Golf Club. 

To accommodate BYU's longstanding policy of not competing on Sunday due to religious observance, the NCAA instituted provisions that allowed the Cougars to play Sunday's third round on Thursday afternoon.

Because BYU is the only team that teed it up on Thursday, each player played the entirety of their "Sunday" round alone, with just an NCAA Rules official by their side and a few friends and family cheering them on.

David Timmins led the Cougars with a 1-over-par 71 on the opening day. The senior opened with a 1-under 34 on the opening nine as he carded a single birdie and eight pars. The wind picked up on the inward nine as Timmins carded three bogeys and a birdie for a 2-over 37. 

Max Brenchley posted a 4-over 74 at Grayhawk's Raptor course on Thursday. He poured in a birdie on the opening hole before recording five bogeys over his last 17 holes. 

Zac Jones and Carson Lundell each shot 79 in the opening round with Tyson Shelley rounding out the Cougar scoring with an 80 on a hot Arizona afternoon. 

The Cougars return to regular play today as they will tee it up with East Tennessee State and San Francisco beginning at 1:20 p.m. PDT. 

Individual Leaderboard

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — No. 37 BYU men’s golf begins its quest for the program's second national title as the Cougars tee off Thursday at the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club.

“I am really excited for our team to return to Grayhawk for the NCAA Golf Championships,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “The team has played some great golf over the past few weeks and I’m excited to see them make the most of their opportunity to show that we can compete with the best teams in college golf.”

The Cougars secured a spot in the 30-team NCAA Championship field after finishing runner-up at the NCAA Morgan Hill Regional last week. BYU carded rounds of 288-296-284—868 to finish second behind No. 18 Mississippi State and in front of No. 7 Florida State, No. 31 Baylor and No. 6 Pepperdine who also earned trips to Grayhawk for the championship.

Carson Lundell, David Timmins, Zac Jones, Max Brenchley and Tyson Shelley will tee it up at Grayhawk’s Raptor Course as they look to squad to bring home the program’s second national title and first since 1981.

The NCAA Championship consists of 72-holes of stroke play competition, as well as three rounds of team match play to determine the individual and team champions. The teams will play 54 holes across Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 26-28) before the field is cut from 30 to 15.

To accommodate BYU’s longstanding policy of not competing on Sunday due to religious observance, the NCAA has made provisions for the Cougars to play Sunday’s third round on Thursday afternoon. 

The 15 advancing teams will play in the final round on Monday (May 29) where the NCAA will crown the individual champion and trim the field to eight teams who will move on to match play. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will take place on Tuesday, May 30, with the national championship match being contested on Wednesday, May 31.

“Sunday evening last year, after seeing we would not make it through the first cut at Nationals, hurt a lot for our guys,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “We had a team meeting where each of the guys made a commitment to make it back to Grayhawk this year and I’m proud of these guys for putting in the work to make that happen. Whether these guys have a great week or not, these guys will show that they can compete and win against the best collegiate golf teams in the country.”

BYU will begin the championship on Thursday, May 25 starting at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Each player will play as an individual with an official scorer from the NCAA. Admission is free and spectators are welcome to attend and cheer on the Cougars tomorrow at Grayhawk Golf Club. For more information about the championship, please visit ncaa.com.