RENO, Nev. — BYU men’s golf is tied for fourth after posting a 7-over par opening round of the Wolf Pack Classic in cold, snowy conditions in Reno, Nevada, Monday.

“We played in really cold, windy conditions today and had snow stop play on two different occasions,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “I thought we were mentally tough today and handled the conditions fairly well, but had some trouble getting the most out of each round.”

The Cougars are 11 shots off the first-round lead held by New Mexico who finished with a 4-under par 284. San Francisco is in second at 285, followed UCLA at 292. Nevada and BYU are in fourth at 295. 

Keanu Akina led the way for BYU in the opening round with a 1-under par 71 that puts him in a tie for sixth individually. The sophomore posted one of only eight sub-par rounds in round one carding six birdies, three bogeys and a double.

Carson Lundell and Elijah Turner both sit in a tie for 19th after shooting 2-over 74 in round one. Cole Ponich shot a 4-over par 76 and Zac Jones had a 78 to round out the Cougar scoring.

“Today was definitely one of the top-three worst conditions I’ve seen in the 15 years I’ve coached at BYU," said director of golf Todd Miller.  “It was a high of 39 degrees with 15-20 mph winds and occasional snow, which made it hard to hit fairways and difficult to be accurate with our iron shots in the windy conditions.”

The second round was suspended darkness and will resume Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. PDT. The 18-hole final round will be played immediately following the conclusion of round two. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com

Day One Team Standings

PROVO, Utah — BYU men’s golf is back in action at the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, Nevada, at Hidden Valley Country Club, October 11-12.

BYU kicked off its 2021-22 campaign with a 19-shot victory at the William H. Tucker Invitational and followed up win with a sixth-place finish at the Paintbrush Invitational in windy conditions in Colorado.

“We’ve never played the Wolf Pack Classic before and they are forecasting cold, tough conditions,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “Our goal is to step up and handle adversity better than we did last week. We need to play some great golf and recapture the momentum we had at the Tucker Invitational."

The 54-hole event will be played at Hidden Valley Country Club and will feature a 36-hole Monday followed by an 18-hole final round on Tuesday.

Carson Lundell, Keanu Akina, Cole Ponich, Elijah Turner and Zac Jones will tee it up for the Cougars in their third event of the fall season.

Others competing in the 14-team field include host Nevada, Air Force, Fresno State, LMU, Long Beach State, New Mexico, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose State, UC Davis, UCLA and UNLV.

Teams will tee off at 9:30 a.m. PDT for the first round with round two immediately following the first-round finish. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.