BYU men's golf team snags fifth place at John Burns Invitational

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS -- The BYU men's golf team snatched fifth place Friday at the John A. Burns Invitational in Wahiawa, Hawaii behind an excellent final round from junior Todd Miller.

The No. 19 ranked Cougars (279-288-281--848) finished 15 strokes behind first-place Arizona (285-272-276--833), who is ranked No. 28 nationally. BYU finished just five back from fourth-place California (284-278-281), ranked 15th.

BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said that although he would have liked to place even higher, he was happy with the team's play.

"We had a chance to do better," Brockbank said. "But we'll just chalk it up to a good performance."

Miller, who shot five under par at 67 Friday, was 71-74-67--212 overall and grabbed 22nd place in the individual standings. Freshmen Jake Ellison (68-70-72--210) and Clay Ogden (70-72-70--212) had solid performances throughout the three-day contest, placing 13th and 22nd respectively. Oscar Alvarez (70-73-72--215) and Greg Machtaler (71-73-73--217) completed a quality outing by the Cougars.

Miller, who was frustrated with his own play the first two days of the tournament, started off Friday with birdies on the first three holes.

"I got excited and built up some confidence," he said.

Ron Harvey, Jr. and Clay Bingham both played as individuals. Harvey scored 73-75-76--224 and Bingham tallied 75-75-76--226.

BYU fared better this year than in 2003, when the team placed 8th at the John Burns. In 2000, BYU took first place in the tournament.

The John Burns Invitational, played at the 6,917-yard, par-72 Leilehua Golf Course, drew the following competition: Arizona, California, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Hawaii, Hawaii-Hilo, Nagoya University, New Mexico, Pacific, San Diego State, San Francisco, San Jose State, Southern Methodist, Texas A&M, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV, Utah, and UTEP.

The top individual finisher was Spencer Levin of New Mexico, who shot 67-65-69--201.

Miller said he thinks the Cougars have a dependable team that is capable of improving.

"I really like our team," he said. "Everyone is always in it. We're hard on ourselves, but we keep at it."

Brockbank said he was pleased with his players' efforts, but the team "definitely has some work ahead" in order to improve.

The Cougars will be back in action March 1-2 at the Cleveland Golf Classic in Westlake Village, Calif.

John Burns Intercollegiate    

Leilehua Golf Course Wahiawa, HI

Dates: 02/18 - 02/20 (Today:02-20-2004)

Par: 72 Yardage: 6917

BYU Individual/Team Scores

T 13 Jake Ellison 68-70-72--210

T 22 Todd Miller 71-74-67--212

T 22 Clay Ogden 70-72-70--212

T 41 Oscar Alvarez 70-73-72--215

T 54 Greg Machtaler 71-73-73--217

T 82 *Ron Harvey, Jr. 73-75-76--224

T 93 *Clay Bingham 75-75-76--226

5 BYU Totals 279-288-281--848

*Competing as Individual

Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores

1 Arizona, U. of 285 272 276 833

2 UNLV 280 276 281 837

3 New Mexico, U. of 276 279 285 840

4 California, U. of 284 278 281 843

5 Brigham Young Univ. 279 288 281 848

6 Texas A&M University 283 280 286 849

Colorado State Univ. 282 290 277 849

8 SMU 281 286 283 850

9 Colorado, U. of 286 280 288 854

Denver, U. of 285 286 283 854

11 San Diego State U. 283 287 286 856

12 Hawaii-Hilo, U. of 294 292 274 860

13 San Jose State Univ. 282 292 291 865

14 Pacific, U. of the 293 283 292 868

15 Texas El Paso, U. of 285 293 291 869

UC-Santa Barbara 289 292 288 869

17 Hawaii, Univ. of 297 296 285 878

18 Utah, Univ. of 278 304 297 879

19 Nagoya University 294 303 295 892

20 San Francisco, U. of 294 299 303 896

Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores

1 Spencer Levin New Mexico 67 65 69 201

2 Nolan Martin Col. St. 67 71 64 202

3 Peter Tomasulo California 67 69 67 203

Henry Liaw Arizona 69 64 70 203

5 Ryan Moore UNLV 70 65 71 206

Jimmy Cunningham Denver 68 70 68 206

7 Travis Whisman UNLV 69 70 68 207

David Tasker Texas A&M 70 67 70 207

9 Nathan Lashley Arizona 70 71 67 208

10 Barrett Jarosch Denver 70 72 67 209

Jeff Hood California 71 71 67 209

Nathan Tyler Arizona 73 69 67 209

13 Kane Webber Colorado 70 70 70 210

Jake Ellison BYU 68 70 72 210

Jay Choi New Mexico 68 70 72 210

16 Chris Baryla UTEP 71 72 68 211

Mark Warman SanDiegoSt 72 69 70 211

Matthew Kodama Hawaii 70 70 71 211

Martin Laird Col. St. 70 74 67 211

Troy Higashiyama Haw.-Hilo 72 72 67 211

Will Dodson SMU 73 69 69 211