Jones' win propels Cougars to WCC Championship

BREMERTON, Wash. — In its last trip to the West Coast Conference Championship, No. 44 BYU men’s golf held off No. 46 San Francisco and No. 6 Pepperdine to take home the WCC title while Zac Jones captured the individual championship at Golf Mountain Golf Course on Saturday.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the way our guys fought today,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “This was a really gritty win for our team and it showed a lot about the character of our players. After a couple of double bogeys on the par-5 11th, we were in a really tough spot but the guys dug deep making seven birdies and an eagle over the last five holes to seal the deal.”

In the team championship, BYU trailed San Francisco by two shots with two holes to play but birdies from Jones and Tyson Shelley on the 17th drew the Cougars within one. Carson Lundell and Max Brenchley each recorded a birdie on the closing hole to take a one-shot lead with only Jones left on the course. He closed with a bogey to secure a one-shot victory for BYU.

At the conclusion of 54-holes, Jones and LMU’s Riley Lewis were knotted at 9-under-par for the individual title. The sudden-death playoff began on the par 3 16th hole where Jones hit a pitching wedge from 166 yards. The shot landed a foot from the back of the green, spinning toward to flag leaving him a 10-foot birdie try. After Lewis missed his birdie attempt, Jones rolled it in to earn his second win of the year and become the first Cougar to earn an individual conference title since Peter Kuest in 2017.

BYU(285-273-285—843) finished at 21-under to secure the team title over No. 46 San Francisco (283-280-281—844) who finished runner-up. No. 6 Pepperdine took third after shooting 10 under for the tournament. LMU (288-289-281—858) finished at 6 under to take fourth with No. 45 San Diego (293-288-286—867) and Santa Clara (288-289-290—867) rounding out the top 5 at 3 over par.

Brenchley carded a 1-under final round which included making a 90-footer for eagle on the par 5 14th which sparked the BYU comeback. The junior finished in a tie for third at 8 under with rounds of 70-67-71—208.

Lundell finished in a tie for eighth to record his seventh top-15 finish of the season. The fifth-year senior went 3 under in his final five holes to post a 2 under final round. His scores of 71-71-70—212 were good for a 4 under-par total.

Shelley carded rounds of 76-69-72—217 to finish in a tie for 13th, his sixth top-15 finish of the year. David Timmins rounded out the scoring for BYU with rounds of 75-72-75—222 to finish 27th.

The Cougars now await their regional selection with the NCAA Selection Show being broadcast on the Golf Channel on May 3 at 11 a.m. MDT.