Cougars embark on spring campaign in Tucson

PROVO, Utah — BYU men’s golf will get its spring season underway at the 43rd Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate, Jan. 30-31 at the Tucson Country Club.

After a fall season in which the Cougars finished third or better in three of their five events, BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank and company will continue their quest to return to the NCAA Championship for the fourth time in five seasons as they tee it up in Tucson.

"These next few tournaments are crucial for our goal to make it back to the national championship and into match play," said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. "Our guys have played a lot of tournaments over the winter and have been working hard to keep their game sharp despite the lack of green grass in Utah this winter. I believe we have enough experience and depth with this team that it won’t take too long to start shooting some great scores."

Carson Lundell, David Timmins, Tyson Shelley, Keanu Akina and Zac Jones will begin the spring season for the Cougars. Lundell, Timmins, Shelley and Jones will make their sixth starts after competing in all five fall events, while Akina will be making his fourth start of the 2022-23 campaign. 

BYU will take on a 15-team field comprised of Arizona, Cal, Cal Poly, CMU, Iowa State, LBSU, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Seattle, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Santa Clara, Texas A&M and West Virginia next week in Tucson. 

The 2023 edition of the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate will be hosted by the Tucson Country Club for the second-straight year and the fifth time in tournament history.

After practicing indoors all winter, BYU will be tested by the 7,022-yard layout that has played host to 16 USGA Qualifiers, six Arizona Golf Association Amateur Championships and PGA Tour Qualifying school.

The Cougars will make their 17th appearance in the event since the inaugural trip in 2001. BYU took home the team title in 2006 after posting an 18-under par total at Arizona National Golf Club.

BYU finished at 12-under par during the 2022 playing with two Cougars finishing in the top-25. Carson Lundell was the low finisher last season as he carded rounds of 69-70-70—209 to shoot 7-under and finish tenth.

Live scoring for the 43rd Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate will be available at golfstat.com.