NCAA golf regionals: Can No. 24 BYU make a run for repeat title with star freshman Kihei Akina leading the way?

For all he has accomplished as BYU’s men’s golf coach the past 34 seasons, and an all-conference golfer for the school before that, retiring legend Bruce Brockbank has never coached in the match play portion of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships.

Team match play was introduced to the national championships in 2009 to determine the team champion. BYU won the 1981 national championship under Brockbank’s coach and predecessor, Karl Tucker.

As the No. 24-ranked Cougars begin play in the NCAA Athens (Georgia) Regional on Monday as the No. 4 seed at the University of Georgia Golf Course, getting the popular coach into match play is top of mind for the team, particularly outgoing seniors Tyson Shelley and Simon Kwon.

“It would mean a lot if we could do that,” said Shelley, a Skyline High product who has been in the program since 2021. “We would love to get that done for a lot of people who have done so much to get us where we are.”

Todd Miller, BYU’s director of golf, echoed Shelley’s sentiments.

“I definitely haven’t seen the guys feeling pressure to (send Brockbank out on top),” Miller said. “But I think there is a little extra internal motivation to finish off strong. What a great career that Bruce has had, and we want to finish it off the right way.

“I would love to see him be able to compete in the match play this last year of his career, because he hasn’t had the opportunity to do that,” Miller continued. “Neither have I, and it would be a great way to finish it off.”

With Brockbank retiring, Miller said the entire BYU golf program will “probably be restructured” on both the men’s side and the women’s side, but offered no other details.

“We will find out at the end of the season how it will shake out,” Miller said.

First, there’s a couple more tournaments in which to play, provided the Cougars take care of business this week in Georgia. The top five teams in each of six regionals — rival Utah is in the Columbus Regional — advance to the NCAA Finals at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California, from May 29 to June 3.

This is BYU’s 28th NCAA regional since the format was introduced in 1989. Last year, BYU won the Reno (Nevada) Regional at 15-under to qualify for its 33rd NCAA National Championship appearance.

Every BYU golfer is a Utah product

Junior Peter Kim (Skyline), sensational freshman Kihei Akina (Lone Peak) and freshman Parker Bunn (Bonneville) will round out BYU’s starting five with Shelley and Kwon, meaning that all of BYU’s golfers who will tee it up Monday are products of Utah high school golf programs.

Three — Kwon, Shelley and Kim — are from the same Salt Lake City public high school (Skyline), remarkably. Can any other top 25 program say that?

The sub (freshman Jackson Mauss) is also a product of a Utah public high school, Draper’s Corner Canyon.

“We have a very competitive group, so we will see what happens,” Miller said.

The Cougars arrived in Georgia late Thursday night, and were scheduled to play at former BYU standout Zac Blair’s golf course — The Tree Farm — across the border in Aiken, South Carolina, on Friday. Their one and only practice round on the UGA course was scheduled around noon on Saturday, and the plan on Sunday was to stay away from the golf course — school rules forbid playing or practicing on Sundays — and attend a barbecue at the home of one of Brockbank’s former missionary companions.

Preparing for Bermuda grass

The UGA course features Bermuda grass fairways and rough and Bentgrass greens; Miller said the Cougars play on Bentgrass in Utah and most of the West, but are not as familiar with Bermuda surfaces. Still, that’s not a big concern, Shelley and Miller both said Tuesday.

“We’ve got guys that have played all over the world, so (Bermuda) is not something that is brand new to them,” Miller said. “They play Bermuda in California. They played Bermuda at Pinehurst (in North Carolina).

“It’s not like they just stay in Utah all the time. They have traveled around. They’ve seen Bermuda. They know what to expect, and they know how to work through it when it’s a difficult lie. They may hit a different shot than they would here in Utah, but they have all those tools in their bags, and they practice for it,” he continued. “So it’s my standpoint as a coach that I feel like almost all of our players are kind of past that, being intimidated by a different kind of grass.”

Kihei Akina brings stardom to BYU

The Cougars made the 15-team cut to make it to the fourth round at nationals last year, but weren’t among the top eight teams that advanced to match play. Shelley finished 65th at 10-over 298 in the individual competition.

“It was a great experience, and we learned a lot,” Shelley said. “We know that we have to be both physically strong and mentally strong. We have been working with a sports psychologist all year and have seen some positive results from that.”

Shelley said he’s blessed to have been a part of four great BYU golf teams. He described this year’s team as “hungry and confident” and said last year’s experience should serve the Cougars well this year.

He said the squad has missed the leadership and stellar play of Cole Ponich and Zac Jones, but has been bolstered by “the incredible freshman Kihei Akina” and has a grittiness and toughness to it that came and went last year.

Indeed, Akina is a candidate to win any tournament in which he tees it up.

Akina is the 2026 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and is on the All-Big 12 First Team. He won two individual titles and had seven top-5 finishes, including two second-place finishes. Akina is the No. 6 ranked golfer in the nation. He was best Cougar finisher in eight of 12 events and had a 68.92 scoring average.

Can the Cougars contend?

“I would say this is definitely a team that can contend. If you look at us going into it, we’re not playing the best golf that we’ve played all season,” Miller said, noting a disappointing finish at the Big 12 championships. “Kihei is playing incredible golf. So I feel like we’re in a good place. But I want to see (more).”

Miller said he challenged the team to rise to the occasion in a regional that features the No. 1 team in the country, Auburn.

“If we are sold on ourselves and we believe that we can go win a national championship, the best thing we can do in preparation for that is go play the best team in the country,” he said. “If we can hang with them, it gives us a little bit more confidence that if we’re paired against them in the (match play), that we can hang with them.

“It gives us a good measuring stick,” Miller continued. “Because that team, I assume, is going to come out and shoot 10 to 15 under par every round and see if everybody else in the field can come close to them.”

Other top teams in the regional are No. 12 Illinois, No. 13 Vanderbilt and Georgia, which will have the advantage of knowing the course more than any other team in the field.

Seniors have been stalwarts

Miller said Shelley has had a fantastic college golf career and is a big reason why BYU is back in the postseason.

“We had our best finish in the match play era with Tyson on the team, and we won a Big 12 match play (tournament) with Tyson on the team,” Miller said. “So he’s been a kid that’s helped us do things that we had never done in our program history. And that’s a testament to him. He’s a fighter, and when we need him, he seems to step up to the challenge. You can’t ask for anything more as a coach. When the pressure is on, Tyson is a guy who somehow gets it done.”

Shelley said he will remain an amateur for a couple of months after his college career concludes and play in some prestigious amateur events in Europe in June and some big amateur events in the U.S. in July. He plans to turn professional just before the Utah Open in mid-August and make that his first professional event.

Miller also said senior Simon Kwon will be missed, in particular his optimism and positive outlook on everything. Kwon is Miller’s nephew and the grandson of Hall of Famer and former BYU golf standout Johnny Miller.

“Simon came here and immediately contributed. He just breathes confidence,” Miller said. “He pumps the guys up. He brings confidence and a good, happy demeanor. He’s been a great team captain for us. He gets to practice early, before everybody, and works hard with an optimistic outlook. You need a guy on your team like that who is always rallying the troops. He’s been the perfect team leader for us, to tell you the truth.”

An All-Big 12 Second-Team pick, Kwon had four top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes in the 2025-26 season.

“We are defending regional champs, so we need to go in with that mentality that we are going to win a regional,” Kwon said. “We have the opportunity to beat the best team in the country, and we are going to do everything we can do to prepare for this opportunity. We are one of the best teams in the country, and we are going to prove it to everyone else.”

Optimistic, indeed.