OPELIKA -- After winning eight tournaments in 1999-2000, the No. 6th ranked BYU Golf team ran out of gas early at the 2000 NCAA Championship failing to make the 36-hole cut.
Playing in the morning round on Thursday, the Cougars struggled to get anything going, ending the day with a 6-over-par 294 at the 7,003-yard par 72 Grand National Lake Course of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The two-day total of 299-294-593 left BYU at 17 -over-par for 36 holes, 11 shots off the cut mark of 582.
The 30-team field, which featured 19 of the Nation's top 25 teams, was cut to 15 schools for the final two rounds on Friday and Saturday. The Cougars find themselves 36 shots off the pace for the tournament lead.
"We won a lot of tournaments and had a fantastic year," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. "But finishing this way sure leaves a bad taste in your mouth. No one played well. We struggled all week with the putter."
BYU was lead by sophomore Manuel Merizalde and junior Scott Miller who both fired an even-par round of 72. Merizalde finished the tournament at 75-72-147 and Miller at 77-72-149. Rounding out the
scoring in round two was Andy Miller at 75 (151), Jose Garrido 75 (148) and Billy Harvey 75 (150).
BYU ScoresManuel Merizalde 75-72--147
Jose Garrido 73-75--148
Scott Miller 77-72--149
Billy Harvey 75-75--150
Andy Miller 76-75--151
1 Oklahoma State U. 281 276 557 -19
2 Texas, Univ. of 272 286 558 -18
3 Georgia Tech 280 282 562 -14
4 North Carolina, U of 288 282 570 -6
5 Kent State 288 283 571 -5
T 6 Houston, Univ. of 284 289 573 -3
T 6 UNLV 286 287 573 -3
8 Arizona, U. of 286 289 575 -1
T 9 Auburn University 290 288 578 +2
T 9 TCU 289 289 578 +2
T 9 Clemson University 291 287 578 +2
T 9 Fresno State Univ. 293 285 578 +2
T 13 Northwestern 287 293 580 +4
T 13 Minnesota, Univ. of 290 290 580 +4
T 15 Georgia, U. of 292 290 582 +6
T 15 Wake Forest Univ. 292 290 582 +6
T 17 California, U. of 300 283 583 +7
T 17 East Tennessee St. 286 297 583 +7
T 19 Mississippi St. U. 288 296 584 +8
T 19 New Mexico, U. of 286 298 584 +8
21 Kansas, U. of 291 294 585 +9
22 Georgia State Univ. 295 292 587 +11
T 23 Oklahoma, U. of 294 294 588 +12
T 23 Pepperdine Univ. 295 293 588 +12
T 25 Arizona State U. 299 290 589 +13
T 25 Virginia, U. of 299 290 589 +13
27 North Florida, U. of 294 296 590 +14
28 Brigham Young Univ. 299 294 593 +17
29 Southern California 299 300 599 +23
30 Washington, U. of 301 312 613 +37
Top Ten Individual Scores
C. Howell OSU 67-66--133 -11
D. Gossett Texas 63-70--133 -11
C. Wisler ETSU 67-68--135 -9
J.J. Wall Texas 65-71--136 -8
M. Kuchar GT 67-70--137 -7
J. Anderson UNLV 69-68--137 -7
L. Mahan OSU 70-68--138 -6
R. Barnes Arizona 70-69--139 -5
J. Daley NW 69-70--139 -5
J. Driscoll UVA 68-71--139 -5
B. Hyler UNC 69-71--140 -4
2000 NCAA GOLF TOURNAMENT
The BYU Golf team leaves Sunday, May 28, for the 2000 NCAA Golf Championship. The 72-hole tournament runs May 31-June 3.
o Grand National Golf Complex
Site of the 1997 NIKE TOUR Championship and the 1998 LPGA Tournament of Champions
o Location: Opelika, Alabama
o Yardage: 6,961
o Par: 72
o Tournament: 72 holes
18 holes Wednesday and Thursday
cut to 15 teams
18 holes Thursday and Friday
o Championship Schedule:
Monday, May 29 - Practice Round (starting 8:00 a.m.)
Tuesday, May 30 - Practice Round (starting 8:00 a.m.)
Wednesday, May 31 - First Round (starting 7:12 a.m.)
Thursday, June 1 - Second Round (starting 7:12 a.m.)
Friday, June 2 - Third Round (starting 7:30 a.m.)
Saturday, June 3 - Final Round (starting 7:30 a.m.)
BYU'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER
Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Jose Garrido 6-1 185 Sr. Cali, Colombia
Billy Harvey 6-0 175 Jr. Las Vegas, Nev.
Manuel Merizalde 6-0 145 So. Cali, Colombia
Andy Miller 6-1 180 Sr. Napa, Calif.
Scott Miller 6-0 190 Jr. Napa, Calif.
Head Coach: Bruce Brockbank (8th year)
Assistant Coach: Matt Thurmond (1st year)
CURRENT NATIONAL RANKINGS
GOLFWEEK (5/15/00)
No. School
1. Georgia Tech
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma State
4. Georgia
5. Arizona State
6. Brigham Young
7. Houston
8. UNLV
9. Northwestern
10. Fresno State
11. Auburn
12. New Mexico
13. Arizona
14. North Carolina State
15. Duke
16. North Florida
17. Augusta State
18. Texas
19. South Carolina
20. Florida
Mastercard (5/10/00)
No. School
1. Georgia Tech
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma State
4. Georgia
5. Arizona State
6. Fresno State
7. Northwestern
8. Arizona
9. Brigham Young
10. Houston
11. UNLV
12. Augusta State
13. New Mexico
14. North Carolina State
15. North Florida
16. Florida
17. Stanford
18. Auburn
19. Oregon
20. Kent State
NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Results will be posted each day at the following locations:
o Via www.byucougars.com (official site of BYU Athletics)
o Via the Internet (live scoring)
www.auburn.edu/athletics/ncaagolf (or)
www.ncaachampionships.com
o Via Fax-on-Demand
Call 770-558-6000 (passcode 732)
Document numbers: round one 5360, round two 5361,
round three 5362, final round 5363
o Via mediateamlink.com
1) click on College Conference, 2) click on SEC, 3) click on Auburn University, 4) click on golf, 5) click on the round you want
THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship 30-team field features ten teams from the West Regional along with nine from the Central Regional and 11 from the East Regional, including the defending national champion and No. 4-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
The championship field includes No. 1 Georgia Tech, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 BYU, No. 7 UNLV, No. 8 Houston, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 10 Fresno State, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Arizona, No. 13 New Mexico, No. 14 Texas No. 18 North Florida, No. 19 Kent, No. 21 Kansas, No. 22 Washington and No. 24 Georgia State. The field also includes California, East Tennessee State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pepperdine, Southern Cal, TCU, Virginia and Wake Forest.
BYU AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
BYU has competed in the NCAA Tournament 25 times in the past 35 years. During that time the Cougars have finished in the top five 13 times, including eight straight times from 1975-82. Overall BYU has 18 top-10 finishes including a seventh place effort in 1999 at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn.
Year Finish
1969 Third
1970 Third
1971 Seventh
1972 16th
1973 Eighth
1974 Eighth
1975 Fifth
1976 Second
1977 Fifth
1978 Fourth
1979 Fourth
1980 Second
1981 National Champions
1982 Fifth
1983 10th
1984 Fifth
1985 14th
1986 Fourth
1987 14th
1991 Fifth
1992 20th
1993 25th
1999 7th
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
BYU had come close to winning the NCAA National Championship on several occasions in the 1970s, including runner-up finishes in 1976 and 1980. The Cougars finally broke through in 1981. Led by All-Americans Keith Clearwater, Dick Zokol, Barry Willardson and Rick Fehr, the Cougars won the 1981 NCAA Golf Championship by defeating Oral Roberts by two shots at Stanford Golf Course.
DEPTH
A huge reason for BYU's success this season has been the outstanding depth. Among BYU's top six golfers, the Cougars have collected 38 top-20 finishes in 1999-2000. Among BYU's top six golfers are three sons of former PGA great and current NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller. All three brothers, Andy, Scott and Todd have made significant contributions to the success of this year's squad.
"From one through six we are as good as anybody in the country," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "These guys compete hard and there is no complacency on this team because everyone is fighting to get into that top five. Even among our top five, everyone of them feels they should win every tournament they play in. They all want to win and that's makes for some tough competition among the team."
In the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic on April 21-22 the Cougars finished first, second and third. Andy finished first, Manuel Merizalde second and Scott third.
"When your sixth man can shoot low enough scores to be in third place, you know you've got depth," Brockbank said. "I don't have to motivate these guys. That's the beautiful thing about depth."
INDIVIDUALLY RANKED
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, five Cougars are ranked in the Master Card Individual Collegiate Golf Top 100:
No. 10 Andy Miller
No. 34 Manuel Merizalde
No. 67 Billy Harvey
No. 74 Scott Miller
No. 84 Todd Miller
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top Finish
Andy Miller 40 2845 71.13 63 1st
M. Merizalde 34 2427 71.38 66 2nd
Todd Miller 29 2098 72.34 64 4th
Scott Miller 29 2118 73.03 67 3rd
Billy Harvey 40 2923 73.07 67 2nd
Jose Garrido 31 2272 73.29 68 7th
1999-2000 Top-10 Top-20
Andy Miller 7 9
Manuel Merizalde 5 9
Scott Miller 3 5
Billy Harvey 2 7
Todd Miller 2 4
Jose Garrido 1 4
WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN
With six stroke-play victories and two match-play titles, BYU has more tournament wins than any other NCAA Division I school in the country (see full results at the bottom of the page).
In the fall, the Cougars won the William H. Tucker Invitational and Fresno Lexus Classic in October and the Pacific Match Play Tournament in November.
BYU opened the spring season in February by winning the John H. Burns Invitational in Hawaii and later won the Santa Barbara Invitational and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in March.
The Cougars picked up their sixth victory at the Morris Williams Invitational in Dallas before returning home for back-to-back victories at home. BYU is currently ranked No. 6 in the GolfWeek poll and No. 9 in the MasterCard poll.
COUGARS RUNNER UP AT WEST REGIONALS
For the 25th time in the last 35 years BYU men's golf team earned an invitation to the NCAA Championships after placing second and achieving its highest regional finish ever at the NCAA West Regional in at Riverbend Golf Course in Fresno, Calif.
BYU, which led after the first and second rounds saw their lead slip after the front nine holes to a red-hot Arizona team.
The Cougars, who putted well during the first two round, struggled with their short game down the stretch allowing the Arizona Wildcats to sneak out the surprise victory.
"We came here to qualify for the national tournament," said former BYU Cougar Johnny Miller, who was on hand at the West Regionals to watch sons Scott and Andy play. "All the other stuff doesn't really matter. It's how we perform at nationals next week that really matters."
CAPTAIN, OUR CAPTAIN
Senior Captain and three-time All-American Andy Miller continues to lead the Cougars in nearly every statistical category. Miller collected BYU's first individual victory of the season by beating teammate Manuel Merizalde at the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic.
Miller shot a sizzling 63 in the final round to come from six-strokes behind to win his final home tournament as a Cougar. Miller was also named the McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Player of the Week and finished with the Conference's lowest stroke average on the season. This was the second time Miller has received this honor this season.
Miller is currently ranked No. 10 among NCAA men's golfers. Andy is also the No. 1 ranked golfer in District VII in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings.
"In my mind, Andy is the best collegiate golfer in the nation," Brockbank said. "He is the total package. Academically, athletically, he gives everything he's got every day. He does his best because that's who he is. Any coach or any team in America would love to have an Andy Miller and we feel privileged to have had him four years."
Miller has proven he is one of the top young amateur golfers in the nation after finishing as the runner-up at the Western Amateur in 1997 and 1999. This past November at the Savane All-American Classic playing against the top collegiate golfers in the nation, Miller finished tied for first with Georgia Tech's Matt Kucher.
MILLER BIO
o Team Captain of No. 6 ranked Cougars
o Ranked No. 10 Nationally in the Master Card Collegiate Rankings
o Helped team to seventh-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships (shot lowest score for BYU and placed 23rd Individually)
o Lowest team stroke average
o 1996-97 WAC Freshman of the Year
o 1996-97 WAC Champion
o Runner-up at the Western Amateur 1997, 1999
o Tied for first with Georgia Tech's Matt Kucher at the Savane All-American Classic in November
o 3rd Team All-American 1996-97
o 2nd Team All-American 1997-98
o 2nd Team All-American 1998-99
o MWC Player of the Week March 13-18, 2000
o More than 20 top-ten finishes during his BYU career
THOUGHTS FROM COACH BROCKBANK
"We have relied on our depth all year and to win a National Championship all five guys have to play well.
We have been real consistent all year. It really has been a great year. I believe the team is ready for this tournament. I hope the golf course is one we feel real comfortable playing.
This a very hard-working, talented team, but to win a national title a lot of things have to come together. I hope we get off to a good start Wednesday and Thursday.
The NCAA Tournament should be a shoot out. There are lot of great teams but I honestly feel we are one of them.
We have never had a guy win an individual national championship and it would be great to have one of our guys bring home the individual title. It would also be a great boost for the team."
We need Scott and Jose to have a solid week. If team depth plays an important role like it has all year, we will be in great shape."
SCOUTING THE COACH
Bruce Brockbank is in his eighth year as the head coach of the BYU's men's golf program. A native of Provo, Utah Brockbank joined the BYU golf team in 1983. Following an LDS mission to South Carolina, he returned to the Cougar squad in 1985 and was named First Team All-WAC twice as well as earning Third Team All-America and Academic All-America honors in his senior season in 1988.
He won the Utah State Amateur title in 1987 and 1988. He was named Utah Amateur Golfer of the Year in 1983 and again in 1988. He is a member of the PGA of America.
Before being tabbed for the head coaching job in April of 1992, Brockbank served as an assistant coach for four years under the tutelage of Cougar icon Karl Tucker.
In his short time at the helm of the Cougar squad, he has coached three All-Americans, and 12 players to All-Conference honors. He coached Todd Pence to WAC Player of the Year honors in 1995 has coached three WAC Freshmen of the Year in Matt Thurmond (1994), Michael Henderson (1996), and Andy Miller (1997). Miller was a three-time All-American in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Entering the 2000 NCAA Golf Championship, Brockbank has led his teams to a total of 20 tournament wins including seven in 2000. He has also won two conference titles (1995 and 1999) and has been named WAC Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1999.
In 1990, Brockbank earned a bachelors degree in recreation management from BYU. He added a masters degree in the same subject in 1992. He married Lisa Carman in 1986 and they are the parents of four children, a son Jordan (10), and three daughters, McCale (6), McKenzie (3), and Ashton (1)
