All you need to know about Cougars, Utes as they prepare for NCAA Golf Championship

No. 46 BYU and No. 50 Utah kick off a state assault on the NCAA Golf Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week at Grayhawk Golf Club.

The field features the top 30 teams in the country that made it through regional qualifying.

BYU will play the final round of 18 holes of the 72-hole stroke play portion of the tournament on Thursday instead of Sunday due to the university’s no Sunday play policy. The rest of the field, including the Cougars and Utes, play the first round on Friday.

Special Collector's Issue: "1984: The Year BYU was Second to None"

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football's 1984 National Championship season.

Buy Now

Thursday’s final round by the Cougars will be undertaken while other teams are playing practice rounds at Grayhawk.

A similar NCAA concession for BYU was made three years ago at the championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas, highlighting the challenge of playing without opposing competitors alongside to add to the ability to read conditions of wind and breaks on the greens.

After Sunday’s stroke play concludes, the match play portion of the tourney takes place on Monday and Tuesday at Grayhawk.

The Cougars are led by NCAA Regional (Stockton, California) and Cougar Classic medalist Carson Lundell, who prepped at Lone Peak High.

After Lundell’s win at the regional, BYU director of golf and assistant coach Todd Miller praised the Cougars’ depth and Lundell’s acumen under pressure.

“Every guy on the team was in the game all day long and in this format, it’s not very often that you get to cruise home the last nine holes to advance,” said Miller. “To be able to compete at the NCAA Championship in a place where the grass and air feel like home is a huge advantage for us.”

Utah, making its first NCAA championship appearance since 1988, finished fifth at the Oklahoma Regional, establishing the continued rise of the program under coach Garrett Clegg in his fifth year.

The Utes are led by an international team that includes Blake Tomlinson (Skyline High), Javier Barcos (Spain), Martin Leon (Chile), the 2021 Utah State Amateur champion; Tristan Manour (Canada) and Braxton Watts (Farmington, Utah).

BYU’s qualifying team features products of four Utah high schools: Alpine’s Lundell (Lone Peak); Farmington’s Cole Ponich (Davis High); Sandy’s David Timmins (Brighton High); Salt Lake City’s Tyson Shelley (Skyline); and Alpine’s Max Brenchley (Lone Peak).