Cougars paw their way to victory at Morris Williams

AUSTIN -- The BYU men's golf team took first place Tuesday at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate, edging No. 8 Texas Christian by two strokes.

The No. 18 Cougars (281-285-292--858), winning their first tournament this season, gained momentum behind a stellar first-round 65 from freshman Jake Ellison (65-71-75--211) and also rode strong performances from junior Greg Machtaler (74-69-69--212) and sophomore Oscar Alvarez (68-73-73--214).

BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank was happy with the win.

"It's pretty exciting for us," he said. "We played against a great field, but everybody hung in there and we took care of business."

Ellison, whose first-round 65 was his career low and the low for BYU this season, deflected attention from his achievement.

"The win was really good," he said. "It was an awesome feeling as a team."

Ellison, Machtaler, and Alvarez all placed in the top 20. Ellison and Machtaler had their best finishes of the season, coming in third and seventh, respectively. Alvarez placed 12th. Rounding out the Cougars' five were junior Todd Miller (74-73-76--223) and sophomore Clay Bingham (80-72-75--227), who overcame a tough first round to a respectable finish.

The top individual was Arkansas' Andrew Dahl (64-68-74--206).

The Morris Williams, hosted by No. 7 ranked University of Texas, was held at the Austin Country Club on a par-72 course that measures 6,906 yards. The tournament drew a competitive field of the following 14 schools: Texas (7), TCU (8), Oklahoma State (10), California (13), Arkansas (16), Oklahoma (23), Pepperdine (29), Texas A&M (31), Tulsa (34), SMU (40), Baylor, Fresno State, Houston and Virginia.

Last season, BYU placed 14th in the Morris Williams. Oklahoma State (286-285-290--861), the winner of the 2003 tournament, placed third on Tuesday.

BYU has finished in the top five in all eight of its tournaments this season.

The Cougars will be back in Texas April 2-3 for the Border Olympics in Loredo.

Morris Williams Intercollegiate  Austin, Texas
March 15-16                      Austin Country Club
Par: 72                          Yardage: 6,906
          
Fin. Name                        Score 
  1  Brigham Young               281-285-292--858 (-6) 
T 3  Jake Ellison                65-71-75--211    (-5)
T 7  Greg Machtaler              74-69-69--212    (-4)
T 12 Oscar Alvarez               68-73-73--214    (-2)
T 41 Todd Miller                 74-73-76--223    (+7)
T 56 Clay Bingham                80-72-75--227    (+11)
 
Fin. Team                        Score
  1  Brigham Young               281-285-292--858 (-6) 
  2  Texas Christian             284-283-293--860 (-4)
  3  Oklahoma State              286-285-290--861 (-3)
  4  Tulsa                       286-293-286--865 (+1)
  5  California                  286-295-286--867 (+3)
  6  Texas                       287-295-287--869 (+5)
  7  Arkansas                    288-284-298--870 (+6)
  8  Oklahoma                    288-292-297--877 (+13)
  9  Pepperdine                  303-287-290--880 (+16)
  10 Baylor                      298-288-296--882 (+18)
  11 Virginia                    290-294-299--883 (+19)
  12 SMU 	                       296-293-297--886 (+22)
T 13 Houston                     292-307-294--893 (+29)
T 13 Texas A&M                   296-300-297--893 (+29)
  15 Fresno State                309-295-298--902 (+38)
Fin. Top 20 Players              School           Score
  1  Andrew Dahl                 Arkansas         64-68-74--206 (-10)
  2  Jason Hartwick              Texas            70-71-69--210 (-6)
T 3  Jeff Bell                   Texas            72-71-68--211 (-5)
T 3  Will Dodson                 SMU              72-68-71--211 (-5)
T 3  Jake Ellison                Brigham Young    65-71-75--211 (-5)
T 3  Anthony Kim                 Oklahoma         70-67-74--211 (-5)
T 7  Randy Creighton             Pepperdine       73-70-69--212 (-4)
T 7  Greg Machtaler              Brigham Young    74-69-69--212 (-4)
T 9  David Inglis                Tulsa            71-70-72--213 (-3)
T 9  Adam Meyer                  Texas Christian  71-71-71--213 (-3)
T 9  Zach Mowbray                Houston          69-72-72--213 (-3)
T 12 Oscar Alvarez               Brigham Young    68-73-73--214 (-2)
T 12 Ryan Baca                   Baylor           74-67-73--214 (-2)
T 12 Mitch Cohlmia               Tulsa            71-71-72--214 (-2)
T 12 Farren Keenan*              Texas            72-73-69--214 (-2)
T 12 Michael Putnam              Pepperdine       73-69-72--214 (-2)
T 12 Brad Tilley                 Virginia         71-71-72--214 (-2)
T 12 Peter Tomasulo              California       72-73-69--214 (-2)
T 19 Colby Beckstrom             Texas Christian  69-72-74--215 (-1)
T 19 Carlos Del Moral            Oklahoma         68-76-71--215 (-1)
T 19 Casey Wittenberg            Oklahoma State   71-71-73--215 (-1)
* Played as an individual