BYU men's golf takes 10th at ASU Thunderbird

TEMPE -- For the first time this season, the BYU's men's golf team fell out of the top five.

The No. 12 Cougars (288-289-282--859), who have placed in the top three six times this year and never lower than fifth, had to settle for 10th place on Saturday at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

BYU had no answer for an Arizona State team (270-278-273--821) that shot an unreal 43-under-par on its home course, breaking the fifth-ranked Sun Devils' own tournament record, set at last year's Thunderbird. Not to be too far outdone, No. 9 Arizona (273-285-274--832) and No. 20 USC (277-281-277--835) also shot 32 and 29-under-par, respectively.

It wasn't all bad for the Cougars, however.

Sophomore Oscar Alvarez -- the lone Cougar in the top 20 -- continued to perform well, taking 16th in the individual standings after shooting a six-under 70-67-73--210. Junior Greg Machtaler (75-72-69--216) and freshman Jake Ellison (70-80-69--219) had strong final rounds, shooting 69 apiece. And junior Todd Miller (77-77-71--225) found his rhythm again on Saturday, tallying a 71 in the third round of play.

Also for BYU, sophomore Clay Bingham (73-73-73--219) shot three rounds of 73 and freshman Clay Ogden (71-75-68--214), competing as an individual, took 34th in the player standings.

The tournament's top individual was ASU's Alejandro Canizares (65-66-69--200), who shot a whopping 16-under-par. Following Canizares was current Mountain West Conference golfer of the month Ryan Moore (67-68-67--202) of UNLV, who also registered three rounds under 70. After shooting a course-record 61 in the first round Friday, California's Peter Tomasulo unexpectedly withdrew during the final 18.

The Thunderbird Invitational drew a tough field of 15 teams, including eight clubs that are ranked in the top 25 in the latest Golf Coaches Association poll. They are the following: ninth-ranked Arizona, fifth-ranked Arizona State, No. 11 UNLV, No. 12 Brigham Young, No. 16 California, No. 17 New Mexico, No. 20 USC, and No. 22 Washington. Other clubs that competed were: Texas Tech, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Oregon, Texas-El Paso, San Diego State, and Stanford.

The 32nd Thunderbird, hosted by ASU, was played at the ASU Karsten Course, a par-72 course that measures 7,027 yards.

The Cougars will now look forward to their home tournament, the PING Cougar Classic, held April 23-24 in Provo, Utah. After the Cougar Classic, BYU heads to Sunriver, Ore. for the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

ASU Thunderbird Invitational     Tempe, Ariz.
April 9-10                       Karsten Course   
Par: 72                          Yardage:  7,027
Fin.   Name                      Score
T 10   Brigham Young             288-289-282--859   (-5)
T 16   Oscar Alvarez             70-67-73--210      (-6)
T 45   Greg Machtaler            75-72-69--216      (E)
T 51   Jake Ellison              70-80-69--219      (+3) 
T 51   Clay Bingham              73-73-73--219      (+3)
T 72   Todd Miller               77-77-71--225      (+9)
T 34  *Clay Ogden                71-75-68--214      (-2)
 
Fin.   School                    Score 
  1    Arizona State             270-278-273--821   (-43)
  2    Arizona                   273-285-274--832   (-32)
  3    Southern California       277-281-277--835   (-29)
  4    New Mexico                273-285-282--840   (-24)
  5    Pepperdine                280-279-283--842   (-22)
  6    Arizona State-Maroon      275-285-288--848   (-16)
  7    Texas Tech                278-288-285--851   (-13)
  8    UNLV                      282-286-284--852   (-12)
  9    California                275-289-294--858   (-6)
T 10   Brigham Young             288-289-282--859   (-5)
T 10   Washington                278-299-282--859   (-5)
T 12   Stanford                  296-280-286--862   (-2)
T 12   Texas-El Paso             291-276-295--862   (-2)
  14   Oregon                    287-286-292--865   (+1)
  15   Oregon State              283-295-290--868   (+4)
  16   San Diego State           293-285-291--869   (+5)
 
Fin.   Top 20 Players            School                Score
  1    Alejandro Canizares       Arizona State         65-66-69--200   (-16) 
  2    Ryan Moore                UNLV                  67-68-67--202   (-14) 
  3    Chez Reavie               Arizona State         66-70-67--203   (-13) 
T 4    Chris Nallen              Arizona               66-71-67--204   (-12) 
T 4    Joshua Wooding            Southern California   66-70-68--204   (-12) 
T 6    Zack Miller               Stanford              71-66-68--205   (-11) 
T 6    Kendall Critchfield       Arizona State-Maroon  63-70-72--205   (-11) 
T 8    Brock Mackenzie           Washington            67-69-70--206   (-10) 
T 8    Nico Bollini              Southern California   73-67-66--206   (-10) 
T 10   Randy Creighton           Pepperdine            69-70-68--207   (-9) 
T 10   Oscar Floren              Texas Tech            64-72-71--207   (-9) 
T 12   Spencer Levin             New Mexico            66-74-68--208   (-8) 
T 12   Pat Moore                 Arizona State-Maroon  68-72-68--208   (-8) 
T 14   Michael Putnam            Pepperdine            68-67-74--209   (-7) 
T 14   Travis Whisman            UNLV                  68-72-69--209   (-7) 
T 16   Ben Hayes                 Southern California   67-72-71--210   (-6) 
T 16   Oscar Alvarez             Brigham Young         70-67-73--210   (-6) 
T 18   J.R. Ruda                 California            70-72-69--211   (-5) 
T 18   Charlie Beljan            New Mexico            69-68-74--211   (-5) 
T 20   Andrew Dresser            Texas Tech            74-71-67--212   (-4) 
T 20   Chris Baryla              Texas-El Paso         71-67-74--212   (-4) 
T 20   Jay Choi                  New Mexico            71-70-71--212   (-4) 
T 20   Henry Liaw                Arizona               70-71-71--212   (-4) 
T 20   Brad Simpson              Oregon State          67-72-73--212   (-4) 
T 20   Jay Reynolds              New Mexico            69-73-70--212   (-4) 
T 20   Niklas Lemke              Arizona State         71-72-69--212   (-4) 
T 20  *Nick Juszczak             Arizona               73-69-70--212   (-4)
 
*Competed as an individual