Golf With BYU Football: Best Golfers And Moments From Media Event

CEDAR HILLS, Utah — When BYU football was an Independent program, it held an annual media day in late June.

Since they are now members of the Big 12 Conference, hosting their own Media Day is no longer necessary. The league itself takes care of that.

#BYU football media golf tournament was a success. ⛳️ ✅ #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/gR3SMVUnhd

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) June 24, 2024

So, to fill that late-June football fix for the second year, BYU hosted a media golf scramble at Cedar Hills Golf Course on Monday.

A total of 27 foursomes descended on Cedar Hills for the event.

Golfing with BYU football

The foursomes comprised individuals from various media outlets around the valley, BYU football coaches, and former football players.

KSL Sports had foursomes from KSL 5 TV, KSL Sports Zone, and Cougar Sports Saturday on KSL NewsRadio.

I was part of the CSS foursome alongside my co-host Matt Baiamonte and our producer Nate Slack. None of us are seasoned golfers. I’m an OK golfer but fall under the “hacking” category on many of my shots.

So, to round out our foursome, Parker Brown from Progressive Leasing, who is also my brother-in-law, was part of our group.

Brown was critical to the efforts of our CSS team. On hole No. 9, Brown had a beautiful tee shot that reached 348 yards in the fairway. It set up our CSS team with an Eagle on that hole.

We finished the day at six-under-par with a total of 65.

Former BYU players participated

The group in front of us was a foursome of former BYU football players with Indianapolis Colts OT Blake Freeland, Washington Commanders WR Dax Milne, former BYU QB Baylor Romney, and TE Hank Tuipulotu.

That foursome finished with the best score of the day, with a 57.

Letting Connor Pay and Jake Retzlaff play through

Our Cougar Sports Saturday group remained behind them until hole No. 10.

Cedar Hills hole 10 was a Par 5 that featured a long-drive contest. Our foursome didn’t pass the marker, which featured former BYU wide receiver and current BYU Sports Network sideline reporter Mitchell Jurgens’ name atop the sheet.

But while we were hitting our second shot, 240 yards away from the tee box, BYU starting center Connor Pay blasted his tee shot over our heads and passed Juergens’ spot for the longest drive.

Pay, who opted to take advantage of the COVID year available to him, said he began playing golf two years ago after buying a set on Amazon. He said he is continuing to use the same set.

After that type of drive, we let Pay, who was with quarterback Jake Retzlaff play through. After what we a few holes later, it was probably a smart move.

On the Par 4, 14th hole, which was around 335 yards, Pay hit his tee shot near the green and his ball landed in between Baylor Romney and Blake Freeland. When the ball landed, Romney raised his hands, wondering what happened.

Top foursomes

The KSL Sports Zone team of Patrick Kinahan, Alex Kirry, Jake Hatch, and Jake Scott were near the top of the leaderboard with a 12-under-par 59.

Hatch had the power on the drives, while Kinahan shined within 150 yards.

For KSL 5 TV, the team consisted of on-air talents Jeremiah Jensen and Sam Farnsworth, producer Matt Glade, and Kyle Ireland of KSLsports.com.

They finished with a total of 69.

Joining the KSL Sports Zone’s second-place score of 59 was the BYU Sports Network team, which included Juergens and Hans Olsen.

Finishing in third place was a Vandy Creations foursome and golf stars Randy Dodson, Mike Stansfield, Dick Harmon, and Wesley Ruff. Those teams scored 60.

The day’s highest score was a foursome from BYUtv with Jarom Jordan and Hema Heimuli. They finished with a nine-over-par 80. As a joke, they were awarded a pack of pickleballs.

BYU coaches clean longest drive, putt contests

BYU running back coach Harvey Unga had the longest drive on hole No. 4. Former BYU safety and current analyst Hayden Livingston earned the long drive on No. 10, passing Connor Pay.

BYU tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride buried the longest putt on No. 18.

Kalani Sitake is excited for the 100th season of BYU football

After the golfing concluded, Tucanos provided lunch to all of the golfers. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake addressed the media and thanked them for their professionalism.

Sitake also noted he was excited to lead the program into its 100th season this fall. He said he couldn’t believe it was 30 years ago that he arrived at BYU as a freshman fullback.

The ninth-year head coach was in a foursome with defensive coordinator Jay Hill, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, and special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga. They scored 63.

BYU coaches are set to take a week off for vacation before returning in preparation for fall camp, which begins on July 31.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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