BYU golfers dominated the opening day of the Utah Men’s State Amateur at Ogden Country Club.
Former champion Zac Jones, a Cougar senior, and Cole Ponich, who will be a senior at BYU this year, both fired 5-under-par 65s Monday to share the first-round lead.
Defending champion Simon Kwon, who transferred to BYU from Cal last year, is a shot back at 66 halfway through the stroke-play portion of the annual tournament being played for the 126th consecutive year.
Only 12 players were able to break par on a challenging day
Jones, the 2022 State Am champion, had two bogeys in his round, which was highlighted by an eagle-2 at the par-4 13th hole. He also had four birdies on the day. Ponich had six birdies and a bogey.
Tyson Shelley, another BYU golfer, is all alone at 67.
Five golfers — Brendan Thomas, Will Pederson, Hayden Banz, David Liechty and Noah Schone — came in at 68, while Peyton Hastings, Kenny Palmer and Leo Torres finished at 69.
After Tuesday’s second round of stroke play, the field of 156 will be cut to the low 64 for match play. Any ties will be broken with a sudden-death playoff Wednesday morning before the start of match play. Matches will continue until two players are left for a 36-hole final Saturday.
With 72 players at 74 or lower, the cut is expected to come in around 148 or 149.