Provo, Utah--BYU started slow, but sits in fourth place trailing leader San Diego State by 19 strokes at the Taylor Made/Addidas Cougar Classic held at the Riverside Country Club.
"I think the kids expected a lot more," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. "We just didn't capitalize on a lot of good shots."
The Cougars struggled early posting a first-round team score of 301 in the cold, wet conditions of the day. Cougars Manuel Merizalde and Scott Miller both posted first-round scores of 76 while Billy Harvey opened with a 74.
San Diego State faired well in the fowl weather posting three individual scores under-par including John LePack's 4-under-par 68. LePack leads the individual standings with a two-round total of 140, 4-under-par.
The Aztecs held on in the second round shooting a four-under-par 284 with a 10-under-par 566 total on the day.
The Cougars fought back in the second round shooting a 4-under-par 284. "I have to hand it them," Brockbank said. "They played hard and did not give up."
Jesse Hibler and Harvey both fired scores of 2-under-par 70, and Merizalde managed a 1-under-par 71to bring BYU into the fourth place spot.
"We just started figuring things out on those last 9 holes," Merizalde said. "Hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow."
Fresno State and University of California Santa Barbara round out the second and third spots. Final round play begins tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. at the Riverside Country Club.
TEAM SCORES
1. San Diego State 282-284--566-10
2. UC-Santa Barbara 302-282--584+8
Fresno State 295-289--584+8
4. BYU 301-284--585+9
Tulsa 297-292--585+9
6. Wyoming 297-292--589+13
7. UTEP 301-290--591+15
8. Colorado State 299-293--592+16
Hawaii 300-292--592+16
10. Boise State 298-296--594+18
11. Air Force 304-291--595+19
Nevada 303-292--595+19
13. Utah 303-293--596+20
14. Weber State 310-288--598+22
15. Utah State 310-309--619+43
16. Southern Utah 320-321--641+65
Individuals Top 10
1. John Lepak SDSU 68-72--140
2. Lars Johansson SDSU 72-69--141
3. Nick Watney Fresno St. 74-68--142
Chris Noel Tulsa 73-69--142
5. Dan Swanson UTEP 73-70--143
Luke Sestero Boise State 70-73--143
Christian Helland UC Santa Bar.75-68--143
Chris Galeski SDSU 71-72--143
9. Billy Harvey BYU 74-70-144
David Inglis Tulsa 72-72-144
Brian Miller SDSU 71-73-144
Dustin Volk Weber State 76-68--144
BYU Individuals
t9 Billy Harvey 74-70-144
t13 Jesse Hibler75-70--145
t22 Manuel Merizalde76-71--147
t36 Scott Miller76-73--149
t52 Kyle Wight 76-76--152
t64 Jared Overton80-75--155
t64 Berg Crawford80-75--155
t92 Chris Graham79-82--161