Blair named WCC Co-Player of the Year, team ties for third

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

BREMERTON, Wash. – Joe Parkinson shot a final round 73 to lead BYU to a three-way tie for third place at the West Coast Conference Golf Championships Wednesday.

The Cougars shot a final round 294 (+6) team score and finished the 54-hole tournament at 16-over-par to tie with Gonzaga (+16) and San Diego (+16). St. Mary’s won the conference title at eight-over par, edging out second place San Francisco (+10) by two strokes.

“I thought we could come up here and win this golf tournament and we didn’t get the job done,” BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. “We’re fortunate to have finished third.”

Joe Parkinson had another solid round, making four birdies and nine pars to shoot a one-over 73. Despite a tough stretch midway through the round where Parkinson dropped three straight bogeys, he battled back making birdie on three of his final six holes. The freshman finished the tournament tied for fourth place at even par on the individual leaderboard, the best finish of his career.

“Joe Parkinson played really well,” Brockbank said. “It was nice for him to throw the team on his back and have such a good tournament. That’s why we had a chance to win. To have a guy that hasn’t played in a conference championship, to step up and play like he did was a bright spot.”

Coming off yesterday’s 73, Senior Zac Blair replicated his score during the third round finishing with a one-over 73. Blair shot a three round total 217 (+1) to finish the tournament tied for seventh place. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Blair was recognized as the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year with Ben Geyer of Saint Mary’s, in addition to being named to the 2013 All-West Coast Conference Men's Golf Team.

Junior Jordan Hammer had his best round of the tournament carding a final round 72 (E). Hammer made four birdies and ten pars during the final 18 holes and finished the tournament in 21^st place at seven-over-par.

Devon Purser and Justin Keiley finished with rounds of 76 (+4) and 77 (+5) respectively during today’s third round. Both golfers added three birdies on the day. Purser finished the conference tournament tied for 28^th place, while Keiley placed 36^th. Keiley joined Blair, being named to the 2013 All-West Coast Conference Men's Golf Team.

The Cougars next return to action April 26-27 as they play host to the PING Cougar Classic. Watch the Cougars live at Riverside Country Club or follow live stats at golfstat.com.

Individual Scores

Team Scores

2013 WCC All-Conference Awards

Men's Golf Co-Player of the Year

Zac Blair, Sr., BYU; Ben Geyer, Sr., Saint Mary's

Men's Golf Freshman of the Year

Sean Walsh, Gonzaga

Men's Golf Coach of the Year

Scott Hardy, Saint Mary's

2013 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S GOLF TEAM

Zac Blair, Sr., BYU

Jonathan De Los Reyes, So., Saint Mary's

James Fahy, So., Gonzaga

Grant Forrest, So., San Diego

Justin Keiley, Jr., BYU

Mac McClung, Sr., Saint Mary's

Cory McElyea, Jr., San Francisco

Taylor Travis, Sr., San Francisco

Sean Walsh, Fr., Gonzaga

2013 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION

Jobim Carlos, San Francisco; Gio Gandionco, Santa Clara; Cody McManus, Pepperdine; Taylor Schmidt, San Diego; Tyler Torano, Loyola Marymount