BYU Repeats as Barona Champions

LAKESIDE -- The No. 13 BYU men's golf team repeated as champions of the Barona Collegiate Cup on Tuesday, matching the course record it set at last year's competition on its way to a 12-stroke victory in Lakeside, Calif.

The Cougars unleashed their best round of the season with a second-round 20-under-par 268 to build a comfortable lead heading into the final round, and a 7-under 281 finish sealed the first team win of the fall. Their final tally of 42-under-par 822 was the lowest they've scored since the 2004 Barona tournament.

"This team just tore it up out there," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "Anytime you shoot 20-under-par as a team you separate yourselves from everyone else. No matter what tournament or what course, 20-under-par is an outstanding score for any team in the country."

BYU placed three golfers in the top 10 and another in the top 20 on the par-72 Barona Creek Golf Course. Junior Clay Ogden charged the Cougar effort by narrowly missing medalist honors, finishing three strokes behind Denver's James Love in second place. Ogden set career lows for both 54 holes (12-under 204) and 18 holes (7-under 65).

"I just played solid and steady the whole tournament," Ogden said. "I had chances to win, but I missed a couple more putts that could have put me ahead."

Ogden was one of four Cougars who did not shoot a round over par throughout the tournament. Juniors Jake Ellison and Nick Becker were close behind Ogden at 205 (-11) and 206 (-10), respectively, to end in fourth and seventh places. Becker never even peeked over 70 with a 69-68-69 showing for his best tournament of the season.

"Becker was a big help to us," Brockbank said. "He had three or four birdies at the end of each of his rounds to really help us score well as a team."

The Cougars outpaced the 19-team field from the opening round and never fell below first place. BYU competed against two other top-25 teams, host San Diego State (No. 15) and Louisville (No. 24), as well as four more teams in the top 50. Fresno State, No. 24 Louisville, No. 15 San Diego State, Texas Tech and Denver rounded out the top 6.

Senior Oscar Alvarez, who won the 2004 Barona individual title, had a steady tournament, shooting 68-69-72 (-7) to finish in 17th place.

Sophomore Daniel Summerhays turned in his best outing of the year with an even-par 216, including a 2-under 70 in the third round, the second-lowest round total for BYU. Freshman Nick Killpack competed as an individual in the second tournament of his career. He finished in 84th place at 8-over.

With 12 of 12 possible scores at or below par, the Cougars showed the consistency Brockbank and players have said they are capable of.

"I feel that any one of our top five guys can win a tournament on any given day," Ogden said. "We're a strong team and we need to continue to work to the point that we can score like we did in this tournament every time. We've proven we can play, now we just need to get our confidence to the point that we play like this every tournament."

BYU will need to wait through a winter layoff before its next tournament as the Barona marks the end of the fall season. Tournament play will resume Jan. 30-31, 2006 at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

Final Results
Fin. School Scores
1    BYU              273-268-281--822 (-42)
2    Fresno State     274-285-275--834 (-30)
3    Louisville       283-279-275--837 (-27)
4    San Diego State  284-277-277--838 (-26)
T5   Texas Tech       278-281-283--842 (-22)
T5   Denver           275-279-288--842 (-22)
7    Nevada           285-280-278--843 (-21)
8    San Diego        276-285-286--847 (-17)
9    Missouri         289-282-277--848 (-16)
T10  Kansas State     282-288-279--849 (-15)
T10  Colorado State   287-279-283--849 (-15)
12   Washington State 281-282-289--852 (-12)
T12  Utah             286-287-279--852 (-12)
T12  UC-Santa Barbara 286-279-287--852 (-12)
15   Wisconsin        283-285-286--854 (-10)
16   Hawaii           285-288-282--855 (-9)
17   Texas El Paso    278-290-296--864 (E)
18   San Diego St B   287-294-284--865 (+1)
DNF  Wichita State    285-298--DNF
BYU Individual Results
Fin. Golfer            Score
T2   Clay Ogden        67-65-72--204 (-12)
T4   Jake Ellison      69-66-70--205 (-11)
T7   Nick Becker       69-68-69--206 (-10)
T17  Oscar Alvarez     68-69-72--209 (-7)
T48  Daniel Summerhays 71-75-70--216 (E)
84   Nick Killpack*    73-74-77--224 (+8)
92 participants
*competed as an individual