BYU shoots season best in 9th-place finish

Day 1 recap

FAIRFAX, California – Junior Tommy Higham shot his lowest career total to lead BYU men’s golf to a ninth-place finish at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational on Tuesday.

"It was a pretty tough day, unfortunately," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We showed signs of vulnerability and didn't handle it very well. Hopefully we can bounce back and find out what these guys are made of. Tommy played pretty well, which should build his confidence. He hung in there when we needed him to."

The Cougars finished in ninth place and shot a total of 865 (+13), their lowest team total of the season. Cal took first place (-13) for the sixth year in a row.

After shooting a career-low 67 in the first round, Higham finished the tournament tied for 30th place and shot four-over-par.

"The first day was really fun because I had my lowest score," Higham said. "I made an eagle and four birdies in a row. The course played a lot harder today because we had a bunch of swirling wind and rain. It was more of a grind out there today, but overall it was good."

Junior Joe Parkinson and senior Mike Jurca both finished in a tie for 44th place, shooting seven-over-par.

Senior Cole Ogden shot nine-over-par and tied for 55th place. Another senior Jordan Rodgers moved up 14 spots from the end of the second round to tie for 60th place, shooting 10-over-par.

West Coast Conference member Pepperdine finished in fifth place, shooting one-over-par as a team. Other WCC teams San Francisco and Saint Mary’s finished in 10th (+16) and 12th (+20) respectively.

BYU is off until Oct. 30 when the team travels to Stockton, California to play in the Pacific Invitational. 

Alister MacKenzie Invitational - Oct. 14, 2014