Cougars Win Big at Barona

LAKESIDE -- The BYU men's golf team notched its second consecutive victory at the Barona Collegiate Cup on Tuesday, winning the tournament by nearly 20 strokes after carding 11 out of a possible 12 scores under par.

Senior Greg Machtaler was impressed with each team member's performance.

"The thing I think is amazing is that nobody shot over par the entire tournament," Machtaler said. "I've never seen anything like that in my four years here. It's awesome."

BYU Coach Bruce Brockbank said because the team's hard work and competitive nature, it is hitting the ball really well and is playing with a great deal of confidence. The team's hard work has shown in the last two tournaments as the Cougars have gone 79-under par, winning by an average of 19.5 strokes.

Oscar Alvarez led the No. 15 Cougars by winning the individual title on the second playoff hole. Alvarez had an eagle on hole No.14 when he hit his driver shot about eight feet from the hole and nailed his putt for eagle. He bogied No. 17 when he hit the ball in the water, but on the No. 18 hole he made a difficult up-and-down putt to force a playoff. On the second hole of the playoff hole, Alvarez sunk a 36-foot putt to clinch his first collegiate victory.

"I'm really happy," he said. "This is something I really wanted."

For the tournament, Alvarez stroked an impressive 66-69-68 including a tournament-leading two eagles.

Also for the second consecutive tournament, the Cougars placed three golfers in the top-5. Brockbank said having three guys playing so well gave him the confidence the team would win.

"I knew we were in good shape when we had three of our guys at the top of the leader board all day long," Brockbank said.

Seniors Greg Machtaler and Ron Harvey Jr. tied for fifth place after tallying identical 68-70-68. The pair finished just three strokes off the lead.

Machtaler, who won the individual title at the Fresno Lexus Classic two weeks ago, tallied an amazing 16 birdies, second best in the tournament.

Harvey carded just one less birdie than Machtaler to finish third in total birdies at the tournament. Harvey has been just one of several Cougars to be in contention for the lead at the last two tournaments. He said the depth of this year's team has been key to its success.

"Every one on this team goes into each tournament thinking they can win it and the rest just takes care of itself," Harvey said. "So far this year if you can beat your teammates, you can win the tournament."

Sophomore Jake Ellison also put together a solid tournament. He carded an amazing 37 pars in 54 holes of golf. By finishing ninth at the Barona, Ellison notched his second straight top-10 finish.

Todd Miller put together his best tournament of the year Tuesday. He finished tied for No. 27, his best finish so far this year. He stroked a 213 during the tournament.

Clay Ogden also had his best performance of the year by finishing at No. 32. He competed in the tournament as an individual.

The Cougars hope to make it three straight victories when they return to competition next Monday at The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.

Fin. School                   Scores  
1    Brigham Young Univ.      271 277 274    822       -42 
2    Denver, U. of            278 282 281    841       -23 
     Texas A&M University     285 278 278    841       -23 
4    Colorado State Univ.     283 276 283    842       -22 
5    Ohio State Univ.         283 273 289    845       -19 
6    Wichita State Univ.      285 279 283    847       -17 
7    San Diego State U.       290 282 279    851       -13 
     Fresno State             286 282 283    851       -13 
9    UC-Santa Barbara         289 275 290    854       -10 
10   Washington State U.      287 283 285    855        -9 
11   Texas El Paso, U. of     283 288 288    859        -5 
12   Nevada, Univ. of         293 291 283    867        +3 
13   Hawaii, Univ. of         293 287 288    868        +4 
14   San Diego, U. of         292 282 298    872        +8
BYU Individual Results
Fin. Golfer           Scores
1    Oscar Alvarez            66   69   68    203
T5   Greg Machtaler           68   70   68    206
T5   Ron Harvey, Jr.          68   70   68    206
T9   Jake Ellison             69   68   71    208
T27  Todd Miller              72   71   70    213
T32  Clay Ogden*              74   69   71    214
*competed as an individual
78 participants