HONOLULU -- For their first tournament of the spring season, BYU heads to University of Hawaii to play in the John H, Burns Invitational against 19 top-ranked teams. Among these teams will be top-10 ranked UCLA and UNLV, along with Arizona, Oklahoma State and New Mexico. Last year's team champion, San Diego State, will also be returning.
The Cougars will tee up on Wednesday at the 6,916 yard Lelehua G.C. playing par 72. The tournament will continue through Friday. Leading the team to victory will be BYU's newest addition, Oscar Alvarez of Medallin, Colombia, who joined the team in January as a freshman.
"Oscar is very talented and will definitely improve our chances of great success this season," said head coach Bruce Brockbank. "He has fallen right in sync with the team in such a short amount of time; it is almost like he has been here all year long."
Also guiding the Cougars will be sophomore Greg Machtaler and freshman Daniel Summerhays, who both lead the team with fall tournament scoring averages of 71.7 and 71.8. Alvarez, Machtaler and Summerhays will be an unbeatable trio this week.
After a two-month winter break, Brockbank said he is ready to pick up where he left off in the fall.
"In our last two tournaments of the fall season, we had a chance to win both," Brockbank said. "The depth of our team hurt us. So now, after getting caught up in classes, a slight change in the line-up, lots of practice, and a great deal of preparation , we are ready to start winning."