BYU men's golf takes 10th at ASU Thunderbird
TEMPE -- For the first time this season, the BYU's men's golf team fell out of the top five.
The No. 12 Cougars (288-289-282--859), who have placed in the top three six times this year and never lower than fifth, had to settle for 10th place on Saturday at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.
BYU had no answer for an Arizona State team (270-278-273--821) that shot an unreal 43-under-par on its home course, breaking the fifth-ranked Sun Devils' own tournament record, set at last year's Thunderbird. Not to be too far outdone, No. 9 Arizona (273-285-274--832) and No. 20 USC (277-281-277--835) also shot 32 and 29-under-par, respectively.
It wasn't all bad for the Cougars, however.
Sophomore Oscar Alvarez -- the lone Cougar in the top 20 -- continued to perform well, taking 16th in the individual standings after shooting a six-under 70-67-73--210. Junior Greg Machtaler (75-72-69--216) and freshman Jake Ellison (70-80-69--219) had strong final rounds, shooting 69 apiece. And junior Todd Miller (77-77-71--225) found his rhythm again on Saturday, tallying a 71 in the third round of play.
Also for BYU, sophomore Clay Bingham (73-73-73--219) shot three rounds of 73 and freshman Clay Ogden (71-75-68--214), competing as an individual, took 34th in the player standings.
The tournament's top individual was ASU's Alejandro Canizares (65-66-69--200), who shot a whopping 16-under-par. Following Canizares was current Mountain West Conference golfer of the month Ryan Moore (67-68-67--202) of UNLV, who also registered three rounds under 70. After shooting a course-record 61 in the first round Friday, California's Peter Tomasulo unexpectedly withdrew during the final 18.
The Thunderbird Invitational drew a tough field of 15 teams, including eight clubs that are ranked in the top 25 in the latest Golf Coaches Association poll. They are the following: ninth-ranked Arizona, fifth-ranked Arizona State, No. 11 UNLV, No. 12 Brigham Young, No. 16 California, No. 17 New Mexico, No. 20 USC, and No. 22 Washington. Other clubs that competed were: Texas Tech, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Oregon, Texas-El Paso, San Diego State, and Stanford.
The 32nd Thunderbird, hosted by ASU, was played at the ASU Karsten Course, a par-72 course that measures 7,027 yards.
The Cougars will now look forward to their home tournament, the PING Cougar Classic, held April 23-24 in Provo, Utah. After the Cougar Classic, BYU heads to Sunriver, Ore. for the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
ASU Thunderbird Invitational Tempe, Ariz.April 9-10 Karsten Course
Par: 72 Yardage: 7,027
Fin. Name Score
T 10 Brigham Young 288-289-282--859 (-5)
T 16 Oscar Alvarez 70-67-73--210 (-6)
T 45 Greg Machtaler 75-72-69--216 (E)
T 51 Jake Ellison 70-80-69--219 (+3)
T 51 Clay Bingham 73-73-73--219 (+3)
T 72 Todd Miller 77-77-71--225 (+9)
T 34 *Clay Ogden 71-75-68--214 (-2)
Fin. School Score
1 Arizona State 270-278-273--821 (-43)
2 Arizona 273-285-274--832 (-32)
3 Southern California 277-281-277--835 (-29)
4 New Mexico 273-285-282--840 (-24)
5 Pepperdine 280-279-283--842 (-22)
6 Arizona State-Maroon 275-285-288--848 (-16)
7 Texas Tech 278-288-285--851 (-13)
8 UNLV 282-286-284--852 (-12)
9 California 275-289-294--858 (-6)
T 10 Brigham Young 288-289-282--859 (-5)
T 10 Washington 278-299-282--859 (-5)
T 12 Stanford 296-280-286--862 (-2)
T 12 Texas-El Paso 291-276-295--862 (-2)
14 Oregon 287-286-292--865 (+1)
15 Oregon State 283-295-290--868 (+4)
16 San Diego State 293-285-291--869 (+5)
Fin. Top 20 Players School Score
1 Alejandro Canizares Arizona State 65-66-69--200 (-16)
2 Ryan Moore UNLV 67-68-67--202 (-14)
3 Chez Reavie Arizona State 66-70-67--203 (-13)
T 4 Chris Nallen Arizona 66-71-67--204 (-12)
T 4 Joshua Wooding Southern California 66-70-68--204 (-12)
T 6 Zack Miller Stanford 71-66-68--205 (-11)
T 6 Kendall Critchfield Arizona State-Maroon 63-70-72--205 (-11)
T 8 Brock Mackenzie Washington 67-69-70--206 (-10)
T 8 Nico Bollini Southern California 73-67-66--206 (-10)
T 10 Randy Creighton Pepperdine 69-70-68--207 (-9)
T 10 Oscar Floren Texas Tech 64-72-71--207 (-9)
T 12 Spencer Levin New Mexico 66-74-68--208 (-8)
T 12 Pat Moore Arizona State-Maroon 68-72-68--208 (-8)
T 14 Michael Putnam Pepperdine 68-67-74--209 (-7)
T 14 Travis Whisman UNLV 68-72-69--209 (-7)
T 16 Ben Hayes Southern California 67-72-71--210 (-6)
T 16 Oscar Alvarez Brigham Young 70-67-73--210 (-6)
T 18 J.R. Ruda California 70-72-69--211 (-5)
T 18 Charlie Beljan New Mexico 69-68-74--211 (-5)
T 20 Andrew Dresser Texas Tech 74-71-67--212 (-4)
T 20 Chris Baryla Texas-El Paso 71-67-74--212 (-4)
T 20 Jay Choi New Mexico 71-70-71--212 (-4)
T 20 Henry Liaw Arizona 70-71-71--212 (-4)
T 20 Brad Simpson Oregon State 67-72-73--212 (-4)
T 20 Jay Reynolds New Mexico 69-73-70--212 (-4)
T 20 Niklas Lemke Arizona State 71-72-69--212 (-4)
T 20 *Nick Juszczak Arizona 73-69-70--212 (-4)
*Competed as an individual
