Ogden leads Cougars to eighth place after first two rounds

BREMERTON, Washington – Senior Cole Ogden’s strong second round led the BYU men’s golf team to an eighth-place finish after the first day of competition at the Husky Invitational on Monday.

“There were some ups and downs, but I thought we did okay,” BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. “It is a really difficult course. It’s a good test of golf, and I thought our guys did a great job.”

The Cougars shot 16-over-par as a team, putting them in the middle of the pack, tied at eighth place after the first two rounds. UCLA finished the day in first place, shooting par.

Ogden kicked off his senior season by shooting par and ending the day in a tie for seventh place. He also made eight birdies after the first two rounds.

“I felt like I was playing pretty well,” Ogden said. “I knew the way I was hitting in the first round that I could get some birdies and hit better in the afternoon. In the second round I just continued to hit it well and it was fun.”

Senior Jordan Rodgers also played well, shooting one-over-par and finishing tied for 26th place. Junior Tommy Higham also had a solid day of competition, shooting four-over-par and ending tied for 38th place.

Freshman Austin Banz had a great first day of collegiate competition. He shot four-over-par and tied for 41st place. The other member of the team competing for the first time is freshman Dalton Stanger, who ended the first two rounds in 74th place and shot 14-over-par.

“The more rounds that the freshmen play, the more comfortable they will get,” Brockbank said. “Tomorrow I hope we continue to be consistent and improve. It would be a pretty good outing for our first event.”

The Cougars tee off the final round on Tuesday. Live stats can be found on the BYU schedule page.

Husky Invitational - Sept. 22, 2014