Utah opened up the 2025 John Burns Intercollegiate at The Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihue, Hawaii, in an impressive fashion, shooting a team round of 7-under 273 and opening up a seven-shot lead on the field. Utah was the only team in the field to shoot a first-round under par.
Utah has four players in the top eleven of the individual competition heading into the second round.
UNLV and Illinois are T2 at even-par, seven shots back of Utah. BYU is in solo fourth place at 1-over, and New Mexico is in solo fifth place at 2-over.
In the individual competition, Jackson Buchanan of Illinois and Brock Snyder of Missouri are tied at the top of the leaderboard at 4-under.
Buchanan recorded seven birdies, including the first four holes of the tournament, and a bogey and double bogey. Snyder recorded a bogey-free round of four birdies.
Buchanan is currently ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings and finished in the semifinals of the 2024 U.S. Amateur and solo second place at the 2024 Big Ten Championships.
Wheaton Ennis of Texas A&M, Sergio Jimenez of Utah, Davis Johnson of Utah, and Emil Nielson of Santa Clara are all T3 at 3-under and one shot back of the leaders.
23 golfers shot even-par or better and are within four shots of the lead heading into the second round.