BYU in first place after first day at Jerry Pate

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. – BYU men’s golf finished the first day of competition in first place at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Monday. Carson Lundell and Peter Kuest both finished in the top five to put BYU on top after two rounds.

"It was such a great team effort today, when one guy struggled someone else stepped up," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "If we can do that tomorrow we will have a very good chance to win."

Lundell started with a 65 (-5) in the first round and ended the day with a 68 (-2) on the par-70 course, landing in second place out of 60 golfers. Kuest stayed consistent with a 68 (-2) and 69 (-1) to put himself in a tie for fifth after the first day.

Kelton Hirsch, Chad Hardy and Austin Banz all finished tied for 25th place after two rounds. Banz made an impressive comeback with a 67 (-3) in the second round, after shooting a 78 (+8) in the first.

The Cougars are in front of four GCAA Coaches Poll top-20 teams after the first day of competition: No. 3 Alabama, No. 14 Auburn, No. 18 UNLV and No. 19 Arkansas. Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn are right behind BYU in second, third and fourth place, respectively, while UNLV is in ninth.

"It's always nice to be in contention," Brockbank said. "We need all five guys to play their best tomorrow to get the top spot. I'm excited to see once again what the guys can do."

The tournament will finish tomorrow with a final round of 18 holes. Live stats and the leaderboard can be found at Golfstat.