Cougars Move Up On Final Day at The Prestige

LA QUINTA -- The BYU men's golf team shot its tournament-best round of golf Tuesday to move up to No. 9 on the final day of competition at The Prestige.

The Cougars cut twelve strokes off their previous round's total. The team carded a 931 during the three-day tournament on the challenging Greg Norman Course at PGA West.

Each member of the team posted his low round of the tournament on Tuesday.

"Today was a little more characteristic of our team," BYU coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We were a little smarter and we paid more attention."

After putting together consecutive wins, the Cougars went into the tournament wanting to have a chance to win, but the challenging course kept them from competing. However, Brockbank said the frustrating finish is actually healthy for the team.

"This should get our attention for the off-season," he said. "We know we need to sharpen our edges."

Brockbank added the disappointing finish should add intensity to the off-season workouts of the team, as each golfer will be anxious to redeem himself from the previous tournament.

Despite the frustration, the golfers put together a respectable third round.

Oscar Alvarez and Greg Machtaler recovered from an 11-over performance on Monday to shoot a 74 on Tuesday. The duo finished the tournament in a tie for No. 13.

Alvarez played the most consistent for the Cougars during the final round. Alvarez tallied a birdie and only three-bogeys on the last eighteen holes. Machtaler, meanwhile, stroked two birdies and only four bogeys to go along with 12 pars.

Ron Harvey Jr. shaved five strokes from his second round total to finish 5-over on the last 18 holes. Harvey carded two birdies and nine pars to shoot a 75.

Jake Ellison put together another solid round to match his second round 79. The sophomore carded a team-high three birdies.

Todd Miller continually improved his score each round. Miller shot a third-round 77, after second-round 81, which improved on his first-round 85.

The Cougars will now take an almost three-month break before returning to action during the spring season. The team is slated to hit the links again on Jan. 31, 2005 at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

Fin. School                Scores

1 UCLA 302 308 294 904 (+40)

2 UC Davis 306 303 304 913 (+49)

T3 UC-Irvine 305 307 305 917 (+53)

T3 Texas Tech 311 311 295 917 (+53)

5 Oklahoma, U. of 315 308 299 922 (+58)

6 Stanford University 313 315 296 924 (+60)

T7 Kansas, U. of 313 305 307 925 (+61)

T7 TCU 315 306 304 925 (+61)

9 Brigham Young Univ. 315 314 302 931 (+67)

T10 Notre Dame, U. of 311 322 301 934 (+70)

T10 Oregon, U. of 312 314 308 934 (+70)

12 Pepperdine 314 313 308 935 (+71)

13 Colorado 318 318 307 943 (+79)

14 Pacific 317 319 314 950 (+86)

15 Northern Colorado 320 335 302 957 (+93)

16 Yale University 336 329 318 983 (+119)

BYU Individual Results

Fin. Golfer Scores

T13 Oscar Alvarez 77 78 74 229 (+13)

T13 Greg Machtaler 79 76 74 229 (+13)

T45 Jake Ellison 80 79 79 238 (+22)

T45 Ron Harvey, Jr. 79 82 77 238 (+22)

T61 Todd Miller 85 81 77 243 (+27)

84 participants