Cougars Post Top-Ten Finish In Final Fall Tourney

SAN -- In the final fall tourney for the Cougars, BYU finished ninth in a field of 17 teams posting a scor of 856 (-8) on the Barona Creek Golf Course in Lakeside, Calif. BYU senior All-American Manuel Merizalde led the Cougars, tied for fourth place with a score of 208 (-8).

Tuesday's finish for Merizalde marks the third time he has finished in the top five in four tournaments this fall. Merzalde accounted for all 8 strokes under par for the Cougars and helped them to their fourth top-ten finish in the five tournaments this fall.

"Manuel played great for us this tournament and he continues to lead this team," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. "The team is slowly coming along and steadily improving."

Jared Overton performed well for BYU, finishing tied for 28th and one under par with a three-round score of 215. Chris Graham bounced back after a second-round 76, finishing with a final round 73 and tied for 36th in a field of 85 golfers.

"We are a young team, but we are maturing," Brockbank said. "We need to be more consistent and capitalize our shots when we have them.

Ohio State which was 9 strokes off the leader in 9th place after one round, surged in the second round shooting a tournament low 268 as a team to move into thrid place and four strokes off leading San Diego State. The Buckeys marked a 281 in the final round to win the tournament 28-under par, beating the Aztecs by one stroke.

With the end of the fall season, the Cougars will hibernate until the end January when play resumes at the Ping Arizona Invitational.

Fin. School Scores

1 Ohio State 287-268-281--836 (-28)

2 San Diego State 278-273-286--837 (-27)

3 Nevada 280-274-288--842 (-22)

4 Fresno State 280-276-288--844 (-20)

5 Washington State 279-282-289--850 (-14)

6 Texas-San Antonio 283-286-282--851 (-13)

7 Wichita State 289-280-285--854 (-10)

8 SDSU Black 290-270-295--855 (-9)

9 Brigham Young 286-281-289--856 (-8)

10 Georgia State 284-283-300--867 (+3)

T 4 Manuel Merizalde 72-66-70--208

T 28 Jared Overton 71-71-73--215

T 36 Christopher Graham 70-76-71--217

T 46 Kyle Wight 73-72-75--220

T 67 Ron Harvey, Jr. 78-72-78--228