Cougar Golfers Excel at Barona Collegiate Cup
Lakeside, Calif. (Oct. 22) -- Thanks to a solid team effort and consistent scoring, the Cougars ended their fall season with a third-place finish at the Barona Collegiate Cup.
In their best performance of the season the Cougars finished 10-under par and just eight strokes behind champion San Diego State. BYU had three golfers finish among the top 25 individuals and were able to earn four solid scores in each round.
"Our guys have been working really hard to improve and it's nice to see it pay off," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "The big difference this tournament was our ability to have a four great scores in every round of this tournament.
The Cougars were in fifth place after a four-under first round. In the second round all four BYU scores were under par, a first for the season, and the Cougars vaulted themselves into second place heading into the final day.
For the second consecutive tournament the Cougars were paired with the leaders in the final round, but the host Aztecs shot a final round 281 to pull away from the Cougars.
"It's a lot more fun when you are in contention to win it," BYU sophomore Greg Machtaler said. "We're playing real well right now and it's a lot of fun. I can really see our confidence growing as a team."
With each tournament this fall BYU's young squad has improved.
"This was a really good showing for us," Brockbank said. "We beat some great teams and it's a big improvement from where we started earlier in the season."
The Cougars were led by Sophomores Ron Harvey Jr. and Machtaler. Harvey, who has struggled in the last two tournaments, came back with a vengence and finished six-under-par and in seventh place, his first top-10 finish of the season. Machtaler was just three strokes behind Harvey and in 14th place. Machtaler's consistent play was highlighted by the fact that he has earned a top 20 individual finish in all five fall tournaments for the Cougars this season.
Another Cougar who has placed among the top 25 individuals in every tournament this season is freshman Daniel Summerhays, who continued his impressive season shooting even par and finishing in 24th place.
Senior Jared Overton had his best tournament of the season and was a big reason for the Cougars third-place finish as he went three under par in the final two rounds.
"Overton had a great final round and he is a big reason of our team's success this tournament," Brockbank said. "He works very hard at his game and it's great to see his confidence building. I couldn't be happier for him."
The Cougars now hope the great finish to their fall season will roll into its Winter/Spring season that begins again in February when the Cougars travel to Hawaii to participate in the John Burns Invitational on February 19-21.
FINAL RESULTS Barona Collegiate Cup/CallawayFin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 San Diego State U. 276 289 281 846
2 Denver, U. of 277 282 293 852
3 Brigham Young Univ. 284 281 289 854
3 Colorado State Univ. 283 290 281 854
5 New Mexico, U. of 284 286 287 857
6 California, U. of 283 286 289 858
7 Ohio State Univ. 287 290 284 861
8 Texas A&M University 291 288 285 864
9 Texas El Paso, U. of 290 287 289 866
SDSU Red Team 294 277 295 866
11 Nevada, Univ. of 285 294 293 872
12 Fresno State Univ. 286 287 300 873
13 Washington State U. 289 294 291 874
14 Louisville, U. of 287 292 297 876
15 N. Car.- Greensboro 289 297 293 879
16 Texas-San Antonio 295 293 300 888
17 Hawaii, Univ. of 296 303 295 894
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
7 Ron Harvey, Jr. 67 70 73 210
T 14 Greg Machtaler 70 69 74 213
T 24 Daniel Summerhays 73 71 72 216
T 39 Jared Overton 78 71 70 219
T 86 Christopher Graham 74 82 81 237
