Cougars Finish Seventh at the 1999 NCAA Golf Championship

CHASKA -- It had been eight years since the Brigham Young University Men's Golf team finished in the top 10 at the NCAA tournament. That drought came to a close Saturday as the No. 16 ranked Cougars posted a 15-over-par 303 in the final round of the 1999 NCAA Championship to finish in

seventh place.

The Cougars posted rounds of 293-298-302-303 for a 72-hole total of 1196 at the 7,196-yard Hazeltine National Golf Club. In fourth place entering the final round, BYU struggled early and was forced to play catch up all day.

"We had a pretty tough day," said BYU coach Bruce Brockbank. "We started real sloppy and never got anything going. We struggled with the putter the last two rounds and if you are going to win this Championship you have got to putt better than we did."

Georgia, who entered the final round five strokes behind Oklahoma State, fired a 5-over-par 293 to win the NCAA Championship by three strokes with a 72-hole total of 292-305-290-293--1180. No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State was second at 289-308-285-301--1183, followed by No. 10 ranked Northwestern in third at 296-299-297-296--1188.

"We played with the big boys all week," said Brockbank the 1999 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. "It was a good showing for us. I'm real proud of the way these guys represented BYU. Seventh in the nation is pretty darn good."

Rounding out the teams to finish ahead of BYU was No. 14 ranked Washington (1189), No. 5 ranked Arizona State (1192) and No. 2 ranked UNLV (1195), the defending NCAA Champions.

"We have some things to improve on for next year," said Brockbank. But the good news is we return all five of these guys. They had a great year."

All-WAC teammates, Andy Miller and Billy Harvey finished tied for 23rd. Miller, a two-time All-American junior, struggled early in the final round but birdied three of the final four holes to shot 76 and 300 for the tournament. Harvey, a sophomore, birdied three of the final five holes to get to 79 and tie Miller at 300.

Other BYU scores from the final round included Scott Miller at 76 for a total of 301 (tied for 34th); Manuel Merizalde also had a 76 for a total of 302 (tied for 39th); and Jose Garrido who had his best round of the tournament a 75 for a total of 310 (67th).

Second and third-round leader Luke Donald fired a 71 on the final day to win the individual title with a 4-under-par 284. He was followed by Ryuji Imada of Georgia and Troy Kelly of Washington in second at 287. Paul Casey of Arizona State was fourth at 290 and Charles Howell of Oklahoma State rounded out the top five at 291.

BYU has participated in the NCAA Golf Championship 25 times in the past 34 years. During that stretch, the Cougars have finished in the top 10 a total of 19 times.

Team Results
Georgia           292-305-290-293--1180
Oklahoma State    289-308-285-301--1183
Northwestern      296-299-297-296--1188
Washington        307-301-291-290--1189
Arizona State     297-307-296-292--1192
UNLV              295-298-306-296--1195
BYU               293-298-302-303--1196
Houston           297-305-297-300--1199
Clemson           293-297-303-306--1199
North Carolina    294-307-298-302--1201
Minnesota         303-305-303-297--1208
Florida           297-311-298-310--1216
E. Tennessee St.  298-306-317-296--1217
Nebraska          301-305-304-308--1218
Illinois          303-305-304-307--1219
Top 10 Individual
 1. Luke Donald, N'western          73-68-72-71--284
 2. Ryuji Imada, Georgia            72-76-72-67--287
    Troy Kelly, Wash.               75-71-70-71--287
 4. Paul Casey, ASU                 72-77-69-72--290
 5. Charles Howell, OSU             71-77-70-73--291
 6. Derek Gillespie, Arizona        72-71-76-75--294
    Max Harris, UNC                 70-75-72-77--294
 8. Chris Wisler, E Tenn. St        68-75-81-71--295
    Lucas Glover, Clemson           72-73-74-76--295
10. Don Hill, UNC                   70-76-77-73--296
BYU Scores
t23 - Billy Harvey         75-74-72-79--300
t23 - Andy Miller          73-74-77-76--300
t34 - Scott Miller         72-78-75-76--301
t39 - Manuel Merizalde     73-72-81-76--302
 67 - Jose Garrido         77-80-81-75--310