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BYU Men’s Golf advances to NCAA Championships

By Shaun Gordon

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 06: Francesco Molinari of Italy plays his second shot from a fairway bunker on the fifth hole during the final round of the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club on May 6, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 06: Francesco Molinari of Italy plays his second shot from a fairway bunker on the fifth hole during the final round of the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club on May 6, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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BYU Men’s Golf finished in a second-place tie at the Norman Regional, giving the Cougars their first trip to the NCAA Championships as a team in more than a decade.

NCAA golf is a team game built around an individualistic sport, and BYU Men’s Golf relied on the entire team to propel them into the NCAA Championships.

The Cougars shot the best round of any team in the final round of the Norman Regional, with their second-straight ten-under par round. That placed them at thirteen-under for the tournament, good for a second-place tie with North Florida. Only Oklahoma, the host school, shot better, finishing one stroke ahead of BYU.

After an outstanding second round from Patrick Fishburn shot the Cougars into contention on Tuesday, Wednesday’s final round was a team effort. Fishburn still shot well, but so did the rest of the team. The final round looked like this:

  • Peter Kuest (-6)
  • Patrick Fishburn (-3)
  • C.J. Lee (-1)
  • Rhett Rasmussen (E)
  • Spencer Dunaway (+1)

Fishburn finished the tournament at ten-under, good for second place overall and just one shot behind North Florida’s Travis Trace. Kuest’s strong final round propelled him into the Top 10 as well, with a fifth-place tie at six-under.

Since the five best teams advance to next week’s NCAA Championships, the Cougars punched their ticket to that tournament.

And they don’t have to travel very far.

It’s less than a hundred miles to travel in Oklahoma from Norman to Stillwater, the site of the NCAA Championships. Oklahoma State is hosting the tournament at the Karsten Creek Golf Club, and the Cougars tee off next Wednesday.

The men’s team can get some pointers before the championship from a friendly face. Rose Huang of the BYU women’s team is competing in the NCAA Women’s Championships this weekend on the same course.

This is BYU’s best finish at regionals since 2000, when the Cougars also finished second. They’re making their first trip to the NCAA Championships as a team since 2006, snapping their longest non-qualification drought in the program’s history.

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