Utah’s men’s golf team has a lot of ground to make up to advance to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships next week at La Costa Golf Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Meanwhile, BYU’s team is in a dogfight to return to the national finals as well, but is in significantly better position to do that than the Utes.
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The final round is Wednesday. The top five teams at each of six regionals will advance to the 30-team finals at La Costa.
At the Athens (Georgia) Regional on Tuesday, BYU shot a 5-under 279 and is now at 11-under through 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament, and alone in fifth place.
Vanderbilt leads at -22, followed by Louisville at -19 and No. 1-ranked Auburn at -14. Homestanding Georgia (-12) is in fourth, a stroke ahead of BYU, while playing on a course in which the Bulldogs are familiar, the University of Georgia Golf Course.
“The team started off really hot today with six birdies in our first three holes, but we went flat for a 10-hole stretch,” BYU director of golf Todd Miller said in a released statement. “We were able to get back inside the top-five because we made five birdies on the par-5 seventh and a couple on eight.”
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Charleston and Illinois are one and two shots behind the Cougars, respectively, so BYU can’t afford to let off the gas Wednesday. BYU won the Reno (Nevada) Regional last year, but another regional title does not appear to be in the cards in legendary coach Bruce Brockbank’s last year.
BYU head men’s golf coach Bruce Brockbank. | Jaren Wilkey/BYU
Individually, freshman Parker Bunn led the Cougars with a 4-under 67 Tuesday and is tied for ninth at -5 for the tournament. Junior Peter Kim (-3), freshman Kihei Akina (+1) and senior Simon Kwon (+1) also contributed to BYU’s team total Tuesday. Senior Tyson Shelley shot a non-counting 2-over 73.
Akina, the No. 6-ranked golfer in the country, is tied for 21st place, while Kim is tied for 11th, Shelley is tied for 40th, and Kwon is tied for 53rd.
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At the Columbus (Ohio) Regional, No. 35 Utah struggled with a +19 and is in last place at +35, two shots behind Wright State. The Utes are 15 shots behind the fifth-place team, No. 23 Long Beach State (+20), and will need a miracle to make it to nationals.
Davis Johnson and Gabriel Palacios each shot 3-over 74 on Tuesday, while Jack Jerge shot +6 and senior Brandon Robison added a +7. Sergio Jimenez carded a non-counting +8.
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