BYU, Arizona and Ian Gilligan running hot at the John Burns Intercollegiate
Ian Gilligan (Long Beach State photo)
With inclement weather in the forecast for Friday, the 21 teams at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate were treated to some bonus golf on Thursday on the Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihu'e, Kaua'i.
Halfway through the second round, BYU leads the field at 23-under par followed closely bt Arizona, which sits just one back at 22-under. New Mexico is a distant third at 13-under.
Arizona was the hottest team on the course when play was suspended on Thursday. After shooting a team score of 10-under in their morning round, the 'Cats were 13-under through 10 holes when play was suspended for the day.
Ian Gilligan of Long Beach State, the 11th-ranked player in the nation as listed by Golfstat, blitzed the Ocean Course in the morning with a career-best 11-under 61. The sophomore from Reno, Nev. was even par through 10 holes on his second round and held a one-shot lead over BYU's Keanu Akina and New Mexico's Bastien Amat when play was suspended for the day.
Gilligan's opening round got off to a somewhat inauspicious start, as he made a bogey on his opening hole, the par-4 ninth. He then preceded to birdie five of his next nine holes and after dropping a shot on his 11th hole, played the last seven holes at 8-under, collecting two eagles and four birdies, setting tournament, course and school records.
Gilligan won twice in the fall, earning co-medalist honors at the Nick Watney Invitational in September and posting a five-shot victory at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational at Sonoma Golf Club.
Following his freshman year in high school, Gilligan was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He'd end up spending 50 days in a hospital and lost over 50 pounds. Four years later and cancer-free, Gilligan completed his comeback by winning the
119th Northern California Golf Association Amateur Championship at Spyglass Hill in August.
His performance at Spyglass was selected as one of the
top-20 most memorable moments in amateur golf for 2022.
Teams will resume their second round on Friday with hopes of completing 36 holes before predicted rainstorms hit the Hawaiian Islands.
ABOUT THE John Burns Intercollegiate
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by
the
University of Hawaii. Team (best four out of five
players) and individual scoring.
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