LOS -- BYU came back with a third round final score of even par 284 in Southern California's Cleveland Classic to finish tied for sixth place, just one shot shy of fourth and four shots short of third.
"Overall we had a really great week," said head coach Bruce Brockbank. "We made a lot of improvements since our trip to Hawaii. It was still, at times, a roller coaster ride, which caused us to leave a lot of shots out on the course. And yet, it always comes down to one or two shots. If we would have made a couple more putts, we would have easily finished in 2nd place."
The Cougars shot a three-round total of fourteen-over-par (293-289-284--866) to finish ahead of two top-20 teams and also some important competitors of District 7 for a regional spot.
"This tournament had a good field with a lot of good golf teams, and we competed well with them," Brockbank said. "We also beat some good district 7 teams, who we really needed to beat."
Freshman Daniel Summerhays tallied a second career-low-finish of tied for third place, this time shooting two-under-par (71-71-69--211). Sophomore Ron Harvey, Jr. just barely missed a top-20 finish by one shot, shooting 73-73-71--217 to tie for 23rd. Sophomore Greg Machtaler finished top-30 with 74-73-71--218. And BYU?s newest addition, Oscar Alvarez, carded 75-72-73--220 to tie for 41st.
"Daniel had an outstanding week," Brockbank said. "He played awesome and I'm really proud of him. Oscar feels he's struggling, but he's still young and shooting 72s and 73s for us on a real tough course."
Brockbank plans to focus on the team?s putting until the next tourney in Austin for Texas' Morris Williams Invitational on March 17-18.
"As long as weather continues to be cold in Provo, it makes it difficult to get solid practice with our putting, but we'll make due," Brockbank said.
Fin. School Score
1UCLA 289 277 279 845 (-7)
2California, U. of 286 286 280 852 (E)
3Oklahoma, U. of 288 292 282 862 (+10)
T4 Arizona State U. 279 301 285 865 (+13)
T4 Stanford University 291 285 289 865 (+13)
T6 Brigham Young Univ. 293 289 284 866 (+14)
T6 Pepperdine 294 291 281 866 (+14)
T8 Fresno State 293 285 290 868 (+16)
T8 Tennessee, Univ. of 287 293 288 868 (+16)
10 Washington 295 284 292 871 (+19)
T11 Ohio State Univ. 293 299 280 872 (+20)
T11 San Diego State 291 283 298 872 (+20)
T13 Oregon State U. 291 290 294 875 (+20)
T13 Oregon, U. of 289 300 286 875 (+23)
15 Southern California 300 293 287 880 (+28)
16 Houston, Univ. of 294 297 290 881 (+29)
17 UC-Santa Barbara 285 305 297 887 (+35)
Fin. BYU PlayersScores
T3 Daniel Summerhays 71 71 69 211 (-2)
T23 Ron Harvey, Jr. 73 73 71 217 (+4)
T30 Greg Machtaler 74 73 71 218 (+5)
T41 Oscar Alvarez 75 72 73 220 (+7)
83 Jared Overton 78 76 75 229 (+16)