NCAA Utah Golf Regional: 5/16

NCAA Utah Golf Regional: 5/16

NORMAN, Okla.-Wednesday, BYU men’s golf moved up two more spots in the standings to secure a spot in the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championships later this month, by placing second at the Norman, Okla. regional.

The Cougars played impeccable golf Wednesday, playing a collective 278 -13 to finish second behind third-ranked Oklahoma, who won the regional. The Sooners shot 850 -14 to get the win. BYU’s overall score for the regional was 851 -13.

BYU’s stars on the third day of competition were Patrick Fishburn who shot a 69 to finish 206 -10 and Peter Kuest who was 210 -6 overall for the tournament. Kuest bolstered the Cougars’ cause by birding seven holes Wednesday.

Rhett Ramsussen was also solid for the Cougars on Wednesday, finishing at 215 -1.

Other qualifiers for the NCAA men’s golf championships from this regional include Florida State, Auburn and Arkansas. The Seminoles tied BYU for second at 851-13 while the Tigers and Razorbacks tied for fourth, securing the last of the five available spots.

The men’s national championship tournament is May 25-30 at Stillwater, Okla., hosted by the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

STOCKTON, Calif.-Utah star freshman golfer Blake Tomlinson placed in the Top 10 Wednesday, giving the Utes a stellar performance during the final day of competition at the Stockton regional hosted by the University of the Pacific.

Tomlinson finished ninth overall and was second among individual qualifiers, posting a three-day score of 5-under par Wednesday.

Only the top three individual finishers advance to the NCAA men’s golf championships and Tomlinson missed out on this, finishing four shots behind Texas-El Paso’s Charles Corner (-9, 207) for the last slot.

Wednesday, Tomlinson carded a 1-under (71), carding three birdies, an eagle, two bogeys, and a costly double-bogey, to go along with 11 pars on the day.

Tomlinson’s three-round score of 211 ranks as the second-lowest for a Utah golfer in an NCAA regional, as only Dustin Pimm had a lower score (210) in 2007. Tomlinson and Pimm are the only two golfers in Utah program history to register a Top-10 finish in an NCAA regional.