No. 17 ranked BYU men's golf traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., last week to participate in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. The Cougars took home third place and finished 3 over par.
Following some strong performances from multiple Cougars, they improved from 2024's performance in Fayetteville when they finished 4th overall in the tournament.
BYU senior Simon Kwan especially shined, as he finished 7th overall in the tournament after finishing 3-over-par throughout the 3 days of the tournament. This is the 3rd time he has finished top-10 in an event this year, as he has excelled in this 2025 season so far.
"I drove the ball extremely well, making it so I didn’t make a double bogey all week,” said Kwon. “I was the only person in the field not to make a double. I always found a way to give myself at least a chance for par."
"Really proud of Simon," said BYU golf coach Bruce Brockbank. "He has played some great golf the first three events and is fun to watch."
Along with Kwan's strong showing, junior Peter Kim and freshman Kihei Akina stood out, tying for 16th overall in the tournament with a score of 7-over-par. Akina led the BYU team with 11 birdies throughout the tournament, finishing with 3 on the last day alone.
Tyson Shelley finished tied for 24th overall and also shot his best round of the week on Wednesday, finishing with 3 birdies on this final day along with his teammate Akina. He improved his score from last year's tournament by 11 strokes, showing serious improvement.
“As a team, we all need to do a deep dive into this last tournament and learn what went wrong,” said Kwon. “Failure is the most important time, and it is the greatest opportunity to learn.”
When asked about his reactions to the results of the tournament, Brockbank said, "We were careless the first nine holes making too many big numbers. The guys bounced back and played some good golf the last 45 holes. The course will expose the weak parts of your game, and we surely saw some of that this week."
The Cougars will look to bounce back on Oct. 13-14 when they travel to South Carolina for the Bryson Invitational at the Daniel Island Club.