BYU Continues Inconsistency in Finishing Ninth

HONOLULU -- At the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, the BYU men's golf team continued its lackluster play with a final round 293 (+5)to finish in ninth place at Leilehua Golf Course on Friday. After a promising first round (291, +3), the Cougars struggled in the second round (297,+9), before making slight improvements to finish with a three round, 54-hole total of 881 (+17).

"This is a disappointing showing for us," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. "We are capable of playing much better. We didn't make the shots we needed to make, and our seniors, who we count on, had trouble getting their game together."

On the day, the Cougars were led by junior Jared Overton, who shot a BYU tournament best 70 (-2). Overton was the only Cougar to improve his performance with each round, after carding a first round 77 (+5) and a second round 74 (+2). Freshman Ron Harvey Jr. was the most consistent Cougar in the tournament, as he finished at even-par (71-73-72-216). Harvey was the only Cougar to finish in the top 20, as he tied for 12th.

"It was nice to see Jared compete the way he did," Brockbank said. "Ron played very consistent, and he showed alot of poise throughout the tournament. He's a freshman who has a load of potential."

BYU's seniors, All-American Manuel Merizalde and Kyle Wight, led the team in the fall, but so far in the spring their play has been inconsistent. Wight carded a 75 (+3), and Merizalde shot 77 (+5), for the second consecutive day, to tie for 48th and 58th respectively.

"For our team to do well, our seniors need to play better," Brockbank said. "They have the necessary tools to be sucessful, but they are

playing ugly golf right now."

San Diego State golfer John Lieber finished with a top score of nine-under-par (65-71-71=207). SDSU was the runaway team leader, with a three round total 853 (-11), to win the tournament by nine strokes.

BYU will next play in the Southwestern Intercollegiate, at the North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The tournament will be

hosted by the University of Southern California, Mar. 4-5.

"We definitely need to regroup, and get ourselves ready to play in California," Brockbank said. "We have to look forward to playing better golf."

t12  Ron Harvey, Jr.        	BYU           71-73-72=216     E
t35  Jared Overton          	BYU           77-74-70=221     +5
t48  Kyle Wight             	BYU           72-77-75=224     +8
t52  Greg Machtaler         	BYU           76-73-76=225     +9
t58  Manuel Merizalde           BYU           72-77-77=226     +10
Fin.   School                  Scores
1    SanDiego State U.        274-295-284=853     -11
2    Auburn University        288-288-286=862     -2
3    Pacific, U. of the       294-288-289=871     +7
4    UNLV                     289-290-295=874     +10
     New Mexico, U. of        287-294-293=874     +10	
6    Arizona, U. of           299-288-291=878     +14
     California, U. of        296-289-293=878     +14
8    UCLA                     295-291-293=879     +15
9    Brigam Young Univ.       291-297-293=881     +17
     Colorado State Univ.     295-288-298=881     +17
11   Hawaii, Univ. of         288-299-295=882     +18
12   Denver, U. of            297-292-295=884     +20
13   Utah, Univ of            298-296-297=891     +27
14   Hawaii,-Hilo, U. of      295-298-299=892     +28
15   Nagoya                   306-291-299=896     +32
16   San Jose State Univ.     302-298-299=899     +35
17   Texas El Paso, U. of     305-299-301=905     +41
18   Wyoming, U. of           317-290-299=906     +42
19   San Francisco, U. of     305-307-306=918     +54
20   Hawaii-White             330-312-321=963     +99