ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – BYU men’s golf sits in eighth place after 36 holes at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the University of New Mexico Championship course on Monday.
The Cougar squad is five-under-par after carding back-to-back rounds of 289 to tally 571 strokes on the day. Fellow Big 12 member Texas Tech is leading the tournament at 18-under-par.
The tournament host, New Mexico, is sitting in second at 16 under, with the University of San Fransisco following close behind at 14-under-par.
Other members of the Big 12 conference participating in the tournament are TCU in seventh (285-285—570; -6) and Kansas State (285-290—275; -1) in ninth.
“We had some funny breaks in the first round, including some lost balls in the rough,” said head coach Bruce Brockbank. “The big numbers hit us hard today, so we need a solid round tomorrow to improve our position.”
Zac Jones leads the Cougars with rounds of 69 and 73 to finish two-under-par in a tie for 19th.
“I am pleased with how the guys fought back this afternoon,” Brockbank said regarding seniors Keanu Akina (71-73–144; even-par), Cole Ponich (76-69–144; +1), and freshman Cooper Jones (76-69–146; +2).
Akina sat at 5-over-par through the first nine holes of round two but carded three birdies and an eagle to finish the round at 1-over. Ponich secured one eagle and five birdies to card a 3-under second round.
Cooper Jones was tied for 100th after round one but moved up 51 spots as he carded nine birdies in the second round. Rounding out the squad is freshman Peter Kim, tied for 64th (73-75—148; +4).
BYU will tee off in a shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. MDT in the final round tomorrow. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.