Hirsch leads the Cougars in day one at Tucson

TUCSON, Arizona – Amid cold and windy conditions, BYU men’s golf finished the first round of the Arizona Intercollegiate tied for 11th behind a tough performance from senior Kelton Hirsch.

Competing through winds in excess of 30 miles-per-hour, Hirsch shot a 76 on the day to tie for 28th individually with WCC counterparts Cameron Meeks of Loyola Marymount and Tim Widing of San Francisco.

As a team, BYU posted a score of 311, knotting them at 11th with the University of Denver. Host Arizona is leading the tournament with an even-par 284, while New Mexico (296), No. 17 ranked Wake Forest (299), Oregon (300) and UNLV (302) round out the top five of the 17-team field. The Cougars are one shot ahead of WCC foes San Diego, who is ranked 25th, and five strokes ahead of Loyola Marymount.

In the individual scoring, BYU freshman Keanu Akina carded a 77 in his first collegiate tournament and is tied for 38th, while junior Carson Lundell shot 78, sophomores David Timmins had 80 and Cole Ponich at 81.

“We missed quite a few short putts today,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “I’m hoping our putting will be better the next couple days and that our guys will step up and post some great scores.”

Follow the Cougars’ second round action of the three-day 54-hole event from Tucson on Tuesday, Jan. 26 via Golfstat.