WAHIAWA -- The BYU men's golf team was cruising in third place Wednesday after round one of the John A. Burn Invitational.
The No. 19 ranked Cougars shot 279 on the day and found themselves just three strokes behind frontrunner New Mexico, who is ranked 17th in the nation. All five Cougars were under par.
"We had a good day today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "Coming out of the snow we were very consistent. The guys were prepared and performed well; they maintained their focus."
Individually, freshman Jake Ellison led the way at four under par, shooting a 68 and tying for sixth place, just one stroke behind the top spot. Clay Ogden and Oscar Alvarez both shot a 70, two under par. Ogden and Alvarez tied for 23rd, falling just outside the top 20. Rounding out the team were Todd Miller and Greg Machtaler, who both shot a robust 71.
Ellison described his game as solid.
"I feel good with my game," Ellison said. "I made a couple of mistakes, but I recovered."
Ron Harvey, Jr. and Clay Bingham both competed as individuals. Harvey shot one over par at 73 and Bingham shot a 75.
Brockbank said it was a perfect day for golf with few winds and sunny skies--and the numbers agree. Of the 22 schools competing, 14 were under par and 55 of the 116 players were on or under par.
A surprising Utah team is in second place, a stroke ahead of the Cougars. The Utes are ranked No. 67 in the nation.
"Utah has a good team," Brockbank said. "We expected them to compete."
BYU will carry on Thursday and Friday, playing 18 holes each day of the tournament. The Cougars, just three strokes back of New Mexico, believe the tournament is theirs for the taking.
"We'll be right there," Ellison said.
John Burns Intercollegiate
Leilehua Golf Course Wahiawa, HI
Dates: 02/18 - 02/20 (Today:02-18-2004)
Par: 72
Yardage: 6917
T 6 Jake Ellison 35- 33 68 -4
T 23 Clay Ogden 34- 36 70 -2
T 23 Oscar Alvarez 35- 35 70 -2
T 38 Todd Miller 35- 36 71 -1
T 38 Greg Machtaler 35- 36 71 -1
T 56 *Ron Harvey, Jr. 36- 37 73 +1
T 89 *Clay Bingham 40- 35 75 +3
*Individual player
Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 New Mexico, U. of 276
2 Utah, Univ. of 278
3 Brigham Young Univ. 279
4 UNLV 280
5 SMU 281
6 Colorado State Univ. 282
San Jose State Univ. 282
8 San Diego State U. 283
Texas A&M University 283
10 California, U. of 284
11 Texas El Paso, U. of 285
Arizona, U. of 285
Denver, U. of 285
14 Colorado, U. of 286
15 UC-Santa Barbara 289
16 Pacific, U. of the 293
17 Hawaii-Hilo, U. of 294
Nagoya University 294
San Francisco, U. of 294
20 Hawaii, Univ. of 297
UH Hilo B 297
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 Nolan Martin Col. St. 31- 36 67
Spencer Levin New Mexico 33- 34 67
Peter Tomasulo California 33- 34 67
Dan Floyd UTEP 35- 32 67
Michael Feuerstein UC-SaBarba 32- 35 67
6 Isaac Weintraub San Jose S 34- 34 68
Jay Reynolds New Mexico 33- 35 68
Jake Ellison BYU 35- 33 68
Jay Choi New Mexico 32- 36 68
Casey Fowles Utah 34- 34 68
Dan Kleckner SMU 33- 35 68
Jimmy Cunningham Denver 34- 34 68
13 Kenny Coakley Colorado 35- 34 69
Robert Frye USF 36- 33 69
Luke Swilor Utah 37- 32 69
Henry Liaw Arizona 34- 35 69
Travis Whisman UNLV 36- 33 69
Linus Nilsson SanDiegoSt 35- 34 69
Andres Gonzales UNLV 37- 32 69
Jerad Harklau SMU 37- 32 69
Carl Jensen Utah 34- 35 69
*Charlie Beljan New Mexico 35- 34 69