SUNRIVER -- BYU's men's golf team posted the only sub-par team round of the day (285, -3) to gain three strokes on New Mexico at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Championship on Friday.
The Cougars are now just two shots back of leader New Mexico heading into the final round on Saturday.
"The Cougars snuck in a pretty good round today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We got up and down in a couple of key places and we made some big putts. It's a great time for us to be playing well."
True freshman Oscar Alvarez was the low Cougar on the day shooting three-under-par while Ron Harvey Jr. continued to play well going even-par. Harvey is tied for second at five-under for the tournament. Greg Machtaler, who has been the hottest Cougar this spring, went one-under-par and sits in fifth place. Freshman Daniel Summerhays was one-over par while Senior Jared Overton went three over in the second round.
Cougar Classic champion Martin Laird or Colorado State jumped into the individual lead after a tournament-low 66 in the second round. He now leads Harvey by three strokes.
The weather hasn't been a factor thus far in the tournament, but winds are expected to pick up Saturday afternoon just in time for the Cougar's afternoon round.
"It's fun to see these guys in the hunt," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "It'll be a big day for this young team tomorrow, but this is exactly what you train all year for. It's exciting."
The third and final round of play will begin at 9 a.m. (PT) Saturday morning at the Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort.
Team Standings Scores
1. New Mexico 276+288=564 -12
2. BYU 281+285=566 -10
3. San Diego State 281+293=574 -2
4. Colorado State 287+288=575 -1
5. UNLV 287+290=577 +1
6. Utah 290+289=579 +3
7. Wyoming 287+298=585 +9
8. Air Force 305+308=613 +37
Individual Scores
1. Martin Laird, Colorado State 70-66--136 (-8)
2. Lars Johansson, San Diego State 67-72--139 (-5)
Matthew Brunk, Wyoming 71-68--139 (-5)
Ron Harvey, Jr., BYU 67-72--139 (-5)
5. Greg Machtaler, BYU 69-71--140 (-4)
Madalitso Muthiya, New Mexico 68-72--140 (-4)
7. Michael Letzig, New Mexico 69-72--141 (-3)
Oscar Alvarez, BYU 72-69--141 (-3)
9. Travis Whisman, UNLV 70-72--142 (-2)
Garrett Clegg, Utah 69-73--142 (-2)
11. Steve Newren, Utah 73-70--143 (-1)
12 Nolan Martin, Col. St. 69-75--144 (E)
Jay Reynolds, New Mexico 71-73--144 (E)
J.C. Deacon, UNLV 70-74--144 (E)
15. Jason Aichele, Wyoming 71-74--145 (+1)
Jay Choi, New Mexico 68-77--145 (+1)
17. Ryan Moore, UNLV 75-71--146 (+2)
Daniel Summerhays, BYU 73-73--146 (+2)
John Lieber, SanDiegoSt 72-74--146 (+2)
Aaron Choi, SanDiegoSt 70-76--146 (+2)
Carl Jensen, Utah 74-72--146 (+2)
35. Jared Overton, BYU 78-75--153 (+9)