NCAA regional golf: BYU, Utah and several Northern Utahns advance to national championship
Clyde Click, Georgia Tech Athletics
Georgia Tech men's golfer Connor Howe watches his shot during an event at the Great Waters Golf Club on March 12, 2021, in Greensboro, Ga.
Two Utah colleges will play in the NCAA men’s golf championship and several area high school alums will be there, too, as the NCAA’s regional tournaments concluded Wednesday at six locations across the country.
The University of Utah will play in the national tournament for the first time since 1988 by finishing fifth at the regional in Norman, Oklahoma. Farmington High alum Braxton Watts tied for 34th, shooting 5-over across three rounds, and was one of Utah’s five best individual scores that count toward the team score.
BYU will also play in the national tournament after finishing third in the regional held in Stockton, California. Davis High alum Cole Ponich shot BYU’s fifth-best score, good to be included in the team counters, by going 2-over for the week.
BYU’s Carson Lundell (Alpine, Utah) was the top individual golfer in Stockton, shooting 11-under over three rounds.
Weber High alumnus Connor Howe will also be at the national championship after shooting 1-under par for Georgia Tech in the Columbus, Ohio regional. That was good for seventh place individually; Georgia Tech finished second as a team.
The top five team finishers at each of the six regionals qualify for the final field of 30 teams at the NCAA championship to be held May 27 to June 1 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Weber State placed 14th, good for last place in the Stockton regional. Isaac Buerger was WSU’s top player there, shooting 4-over for 54th place. Weber High alum Hunter Howe was 8-over for 63rd place.