Cougars Prepare for NCAA Golf Championship

PROVO -- Brigham Young University men's golf team returns to the NCAA Championship on Tuesday June 1-4 at the Homestead Resort's Cascades Golf Course in Hot Springs, Va.

The No. 10 Cougars have a long history of success at the NCAA Golf Championship, but have not earned an invitation since 2000. BYU has earned 12 top-5 finishes and 18 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championship including a national championship in 1981. BYU's last top-10 finish came in 1999 when the Cougars, led by All-Americans Andy Miller and Manuel Merizalde, finished 7th. The last top-5 finish came in 1986. This is BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank's third trip to the NCAA finals.

"With all the parity in college golf these days, it feels great to get back here (NCAA Championship)," Brockbank said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for our program."

BYU is coming off a fifth-place finish at last weekend's NCAA West Regional in Sunriver, Ore. At the NCAA regional the Cougars got off to a great start and actually led the tournament after 27 holes, but after shooting 18-over-par on the final day they fell back to fifth. With the fifth-place finish, the Cougars earned a coveted invitation to the NCAA Championship.

BYU was led byu All-Mountain West Conference selection Oscar Alvarez, who finished tied for fourth overall at last week's NCAA West Regional. The Sophomore from Colombia has been red hot this spring earning seven consecutive top 20 finishes and three consecutive top 10 finishes. He is joined by fellow first-team All-MWC selections Greg Machtaler and Jake Ellison as well as Juniors Ron Harvey Jr. and Todd Miller.

The Cougars will be paired with No. 1-ranked Florida and the No. 9 Texas Longhorns. Both teams also placed fifth at their respective NCAA regionals. BYU, Florida and Texas will tee off at 1:30 p.m. on the 10th tee on Tuesday's first round and at 8:30 a.m. on the first tee on Wednesday.

Fans call follow the tournament live on the internet with live scoring at www.golfstat.com all tournament long.

The Field

The field for the 2004 NCAA Men's Golf Championship consists of 30 teams and six individuals. Clemson, Kentucky and UCLA won their respective regionals and will be the top seeds.

East Regional Teams:

Clemson

Penn State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Florida

Auburn

Georgia State

Rhode Island

Vanderbilt

North Carolina

Individuals:

Bill Haas (Wake Forest)

Aron Price (Georgia Southern)

Central Regional Teams:

Kentucky

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Texas

TCU

Purdue

Wichita State

SMU

Kent State

Individuals:

A.J. Elgert (Kansas State)

Jeff Overton (Indiana)

West Regional Teams:

UCLA

New Mexico

Arizona

Arizona State

Brigham Young

Southern California

Toledo

California

Pepperdine

Washington

Individuals:

Ryan Moore (UNLV)

Chris Baryla (UTEP)

The Cascades Course: Homestead Resort

Consistently ranked among Golf Digest's and Golf Magazine's top fifty courses, this William S. Flynn design is touted as the finest mountain course in America. It is best said that Flynn's design uses its mountain location to influence play, but not to dictate it. Therefore, talented players can use the slopes and roll to their advantage, but less skilled golfers will not find themselves penalized by forced carries or unfair hazard placement.

Yardage/Par: Par 70 / 6,679 yards.

Opened in 1923, it has hosted seven USGA Championships. The most recent being in 2000 as the Cascades hosted the U.S. Men's Mid-Amateur. The Cascades also has been the site of such prestigious PGA events as the 1995 and 1996 Senior PGA TOUR Shoot-Out Championships.

SITE OF: 1928 USGA Women's Amateur Championship - 1932 National Intercollegiate Championship - 1966 Curtis Cup - 1967 Women's National Open - 1980 USGA Senior Men's Championship - 1988 USGA Men's Amateur Championship - 1994 USGA Women's Amateur Championship - 1995 Merrill Lynch PGA Senior TOUR Shoot-Out Championship - 1996 Merrill Lynch PGA Senior TOUR Shoot-Out Championship - 2000 USGA U.S. Men's Mid-Amateur Championship - 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Championships.

BYU'S SUCCESS AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Year Place

1969 3rd

1970 3rd

1971 7th

1972 16th

1973 8th

1974 8th

1975 5th

1976 2nd

1977 5th

1978 4th

1979 4th

1980 2nd

1981 1st

1982 5th

1983 10th

1984 5th

1985 14th

1986 4th

1987 14th

1991 Fifth

1992 20th

1993 25th

1999 7th

12 Top-5

Finishes

18 Top-10

Finishes