Cougars in ninth after round one of NCAA Morgan Hill Regional

MORGAN HILL, Calif. — No. 43 BYU men’s golf sits in ninth place after posting an even-par 288 on day one of the NCAA Morgan Hill Regional at The Institute Golf Club, Monday.

"This team is resilient," said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. "The guys came out a little tight today and made a few mistakes early, but I knew they would make some birdies eventually and they did. The front nine is definitely tougher than the back but we will need to clean things up tomorrow to put ourselves in a good spot going into the final round."

No. 18 Mississippi State leads the regional after day one as the Bulldogs carded a 12-under-par 176 on day one. No. 7 Florida State sits in second after a 7-under opening round with No. 6 Pepperdine at 4 under to sit in third. No. 31 Baylor is tied for fourth with Charlotte at 3 under to round out the top 5 after round one.

No. 30 Louisville, No. 42 Missouri and Grand Canyon are deadlocked at 1 under par in a tie for sixth with No. 43 BYU in ninth at even par, three shots outside the qualifying top 5.

Zac Jones led the way on day one as he carded a 3-under 69 to pace the Cougar team. The WCC individual champion sits in a tie for fifth with William Mouw of Pepperdine, Baylor’s Tyler Isenhart and Grand Canyon’s Sam Murphy. Jones was 1 over after his first nine but carded four birdies in five holes on the back nine to turn in a 3 under opening round.

"Zac played solid all day," said Miller. "He missed a few putts that he normally makes on the front, but he stayed patient, kept giving himself good looks for birdie and they started dropping on the back. Shooting 3 under on this golf course, especially with the firm greens today is really impressive."

Carson Lundell and David Timmins carded even-par rounds for BYU on day one with Lundell carding two birdies and two bogeys while Timmins turned in three of each for his first-round 72. Timmins and Lundell sit in a tie for 28th going into the second round.

Tyson Shelley is tied for 50th after day one in which he turned in a 75 on the 7,561-yard par 72 course. The sophomore carded five birdies in round one, but two doubles and four bogeys combined for a 3-over opening day. Max Brenchley rounded out the day for the Cougars with a 4-over 76.

"We would obviously like to shoot five or 10 under par tomorrow to put ourselves in the driver's seat," said Miller. "Being a few shots out of qualifying after round one isn't the worst place to be, especially because this team that can shoot low scores at the drop of a hat. If we can adjust to the firmness and speed of the greens, and make a few more putts tomorrow, we should be able to jump into the top 5 and put some pressure on the leaders."

The Cougars tee off at 8:25 a.m. PDT and will play with No. 42 Missouri and Grand Canyon in the second round. Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com.

BYU Individual Leaderboard

NCAA Morgan Hill Regional Leaderboard

*15-Team Field