The No. 24 BYU men’s golf team finished the first round of The Goodwin tournament tied for fourth place after posting a 5-under-par 275 at Stanford Golf Course on March 26.
The team’s performance puts them in a strong position heading into the next round, with several players delivering notable individual scores despite challenging conditions.
Host Stanford leads the tournament after carding an 11-under-par 269 and placing three players in the top ten. Long Beach State follows closely with a score of 270, while New Mexico sits third at nine under par. California and Southern Methodist University are tied with BYU for fourth to complete the top five teams.
Kihei Akina led BYU by shooting a four-under-par 66, tying him for sixth individually after birdieing six of his final ten holes. “Stanford is a great golf course, and it has alot of character,” Akina said. “The course got pretty firm and fast. I thought I managed to finish strong with not having my best stuff the rest of the day.” Director of golf Todd Miller praised Akina’s effort: “Kihei stayed patient knowing his game would produce some birdies, and it did,” Miller said. “He’s made some great putts down the stretch.”
Simon Kwon and Peter Kim both recorded one-under-par rounds of 69 to share twenty-eighth place, while Angus Klintworth finished at one over par (71) for fifty-ninth place. Tyson Shelley ended day one tied for one hundred twenty-second after carding a five-over-par seventy-five.
Looking ahead to Friday’s second round, Miller said: “Tomorrow we need to hit a few more fairways and be a little more conservative when we are in trouble. The course usually plays a shot or two easier in the morning, so I believe we can have a great round tomorrow.” Akina added: “We will try to take that momentum into tomorrow,” he said. “We know we can go and put out a low score in prime morning conditions tomorrow.”
