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
