Golf begins NCAA Championship play on Thursday

Carson Lundell hits a shot during the practice round of the NCAA Championship.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — BYU men’s golf tees off Thursday at the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club.

“In my coaching career, I’ve never seen a team that’s worked harder than these guys to get to the National Championship,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “After the fall season, our chances of getting to this point were slim, but each of the guys stayed committed our goals, the process of getting better and played phenomenal golf down the stretch to get to Grayhawk Golf Club.”

The Cougars earned a spot in the NCAA Championship field after a third-place finish at the NCAA Stockton Regional last week. BYU was led by senior Carson Lundell who earned medalist honors after rounds of 69-69-68—205 for the third win of his career.

As a team, No. 41 ranked BYU fired rounds of 284-276-277—837 to finish third in front of No. 9 Washington, No. 28 Oregon, No. 32 Nevada and No. 38 Liberty.

Carson Lundell, David Timmins, Cole Ponich, Max Brenchley, Tyson Shelley and Keanu Akina will tee it up in Scottsdale as the Cougars seek to win the second national championship in program history.

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.

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.

“Our team played incredible golf in Stockton to earn a chance to be here this week,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “We are grateful that the NCAA has worked hard to provide a way for our guys to compete at the highest level of college golf and our team is ready to take advantage of the opportunity.”

After 54-holes of stroke play Thursday through Sunday, the 30-team field will be whittled to 15 teams that will play the final 18-holes on Monday, May 30. The top eight teams will then advance to match play. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on Tuesday, May 31, with the 2022 NCAA Team Champion being determined on Wednesday.

BYU will complete its Sunday round on Thursday beginning at 2:30 p.m. PDT.