Cougars conclude season with 21st place finish at NCAA Championship

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — BYU men’s golf finished the 2022 NCAA Championship in a tie for 21st after its third-round score of 290 from Thursday was recorded on Sunday afternoon.

“I am really proud of our guys for their hard work, dedication and how much they fought for the opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in college golf,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “After the rough patch we hit during the fall season, we didn’t know if making it to the national championship would be possible, but this group rallied together, worked their tails off, played some incredible golf and were able to make it a reality.”

To accommodate its longstanding policy of not competing on Sunday, the NCAA made provisions for BYU to play its third round of the championship on Thursday afternoon at Grayhawk Golf Club. That score of 290 was posted on Sunday along with the scores from the other 29-teams in the field who competed Sunday leading up to the 54-hole cut. 

The national rankings held true as No. 1 Oklahoma (287-275-277—839) is 1-under-par through 54-holes and hold a 4-shot lead over No. 2 Oklahoma State (289-277-277—843) who is 3-over-par with No. 3 Vanderbilt (282-282-281—845) in third at 5-over.

No. 5 ranked North Carolina (288-281-280—849) sits in fourth at 9-over-par, while defending national champion No. 6 Pepperdine (294-282-277—853) rounds out the top-5 at 13-over par. The top-15 teams made the 54-hole cut and will play the fourth round Monday before the field is cut to eight to begin match play on Tuesday.

The 54-hole cutline fell at 37-over-par which eliminated No. 41 BYU (295-302-290—887) who finished in a tie for 21st with No. 18 Florida State (291-300-296—887) at 47-over. The Cougars finished ahead of No. 30 East Tennessee State, No. 31 South Florida, No. 32 Ohio State, No. 33 North Florida, No. 38 Liberty and No. 47 Utah.

Cole Ponich was the highest BYU finisher with rounds of 73-78-69—220 to finish in a tie for 55th. David Timmins finished two shots back of Ponich after posting rounds of 75-74-73—222.

Carson Lundell carded rounds of 74-74-75—223 to finish one back of Timmins with Tyson Shelley shooting 73-76-76—225. Max Brenchley rounded out the scoring for the Cougars with rounds of 76-85-73—234.

“This team made some huge improvements with their putting and the mental side of the game and we are a much better team now than we were in the fall,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miler. “That being said, we are excited to have everyone back next year and to see if we can be a more consistent team throughout the season. We believe that there is enough talent on this team to not only return to the national championship, but also make match play next year."

After finishing in the top-5 in six of their last nine events, the Cougars vaulted up the rankings reaching as high as 55th in the country before finishing third at the NCAA Stockton Regional to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship. BYU returns all five starters from the 2022 team as it looks to make a return trip to Scottsdale next May.

"I am so proud of our guys and their attitude the entire week," said BYU volunteer assistant coach Danny Summerhays. "This will be an incredible learning experience as we move forward into next season. This team is hungry and I believe they will accomplish great things."

Individual Leaderboard

Final Team Leaderboard