SUNRIVER -- Under winding and rainy conditions the BYU's men's golf team finished second at the Mountain West Conference Championship on Saturday at Sunriver Resort, Ore.
"We were hoping to get a win, but New Mexico played pretty good under tough conditions," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We came up a little short today, but we beat some good teams out there today.
The Cougars defeated the seventh-ranked UNLV Rebels and Colorado State, who had defeated BYU by one stroke at the PING Cougar Classic last week. BYU finished tied for second with No. 33 San Diego State. New Mexico claimed the title with a nine stroke advantage while Lobo senior Michael Letzig won the individual championship in a playoff.
Freshman Oscar Alvarez led the Cougars by shooting a final-round 72 to finish in sixth place at three-under-par. Alvarez, a true freshman from Colombia, has gradually developed into a solid player as he has been the low Cougar for the past two tournaments. Another freshman, Daniel Summerhays, who was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-MWC, shot a final round 75 to finish tied for 20th at five-over.
Sophomore Canadians Ron Harvey Jr. and Greg Machtaler, who were the top two Cougars heading into the final round, struggled on Saturday. Machtler, who was also named to the All-MWC team, shot a final round 77 to finish one-over-par and tied for eighth place. Harvey, who led the tournament after the first round shot a final-round 79 to finish two-over and in 10th place. Senior Jared Overton rebounded from a tough first two rounds to go two-over on the final day. He finished the tournament tied for 32nd.
BYU started off the day with a number of bogies going 10-over as a team on the first nine holes, but the Cougars didn't cave in as they went even par on the back nine.
"I admire our guys for not folding on the last nine holes," Brockbank "Had we not turned it around we could have fallen to sixth place pretty easily.
The young Cougar squad has yet to win a tournament this season and have finished tied for second the last two tournaments. BYU will most likely have another chance to win a tournament in the 2003 NCAA West Regional in Seattle, Wash on May 15-17. The announcement of NCAA Regional seedings will be announced on Monday May 5 at 5 p.m.
FINAL RESULTS
Fin. School Scores
1 New Mexico 276-288-291--855 -9
2 Brigham Young 281-285-298--864 E
San Diego State 281-293-290--864 E
4 UNLV 287-290-291--868 +4
Utah 290-289-289--868 +4
6 Colorado State 287-288-297--872 +8
7 Wyoming 287-298-300--885 +21
8 Air Force 305-308-310--923 +59
Fin. Name School Scores
1 Michael Letzig, New Mexico 69-72-69--210 (-6)
2 Martin Laird, Col. St. 70-66-74--210 (-6)
3 Garrett Clegg, Utah 69-73-69--211 (-5)
4 Lars Johansson, SanDiegoSt 67-72-73--212 (-4)
Matthew Brunk, Wyoming 71-68-73--212 (-4)
6 Oscar Alvarez, BYU 72-69-72--213 (-3)
7 Travis Whisman, UNLV 70-72-73--215 (-1)
8 Ryan Moore, UNLV 75-71-71--217 (+1)
Greg Machtaler, BYU 69-71-77--217 (+1)
10 Madalitso Muthiya, New Mexico 68-72-78--218 (+2)
Jay Reynolds, New Mexico 71-73-74--218 (+2)
Steve Newren, Utah 73-70-75--218 (+2)
Ron Harvey, Jr. BYU 67-72-79--218 (+2)
Ian Medlock, New Mexico 77-71-70--218 (+2)
J.C. Deacon, UNLV 70-74-74--218 (+2)
20 Daniel Summerhays, BYU 73-73-75--221 (+5)
32 Jared Overton, BYU 78-75-74--227 (+11)