WAHIAWA -- The BYU men's golf team moved into seventh place after Thursday's second round of the John A. Burns Invitational in Wahiawa, Hawaii.
The Cougars, ranked 19th nationally, were even for the day, shooting 288 (279-288--567 after two rounds). BYU slipped four spots in the standings and fell twelve strokes behind No. 17 New Mexico, who stayed in the top spot with 276-279--555. However, the Cougars remained just five strokes behind fourth place California (284-278--562).
BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said he expects his team to finish the tournament strong on Friday.
"We need to find a way to turn a good score into a great score," he said. "Are we expecting to do better? Yes!"
Individually, freshman Jake Ellison led the Cougars again, shooting two under on the par-72 course. Ellison is tied for sixth place with 68-70--138 and will earn his second top-10 finish of the year if he hangs on. Clay Ogden, also a freshman, was tied for 29th place and shot an even 72 (70-72--142). Sophomore Oscar Alvarez (70-73--143) and junior Greg Machtaler (71-73--144) both shot 73 on the day. Junior Todd Miller was two over at 74 (71-74--145).
Spencer Levin of New Mexico led all players with 67-65--132. Brockbank said he hopes to get one or two scores like Levin's from his players on Friday and solid counts from the rest.
"All five guys are capable of doing that," Brockbank said.
Ron Harvey, Jr. and Clay Bingham, both competing as individuals, each tallied a 75 on Thursday.
The John A. Burns wraps up on Friday with the final 18 holes. The tournament is BYU's first action of the spring season.
John Burns Invitational
Leilehua Golf Course Wahiawa, HI
Dates: 02/18 - 02/20 (Today: 02-19-2004)
Par: 72 Yardage: 6917
BYU Individual/Team Scores
T 6 Jake Ellison 68 70 138
T 29 Clay Ogden 70 72 142
T 41 Oscar Alvarez 70 73 143
T 51 Greg Machtaler 71 73 144
T 55 Todd Miller 71 74 145
T 73 *Ron Harvey, Jr. 73 75 148
T 89 *Clay Bingham 75 75 150
T 7 BYU Total 279 288 567
*Competing as Individual
Team Standings
Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 New Mexico, U. of 276 279 555
2 UNLV 280 276 556
3 Arizona, U. of 285 272 557
4 California, U. of 284 278 562
5 Texas A&M University 283 280 563
6 Colorado, U. of 286 280 566
7 Brigham Young Univ. 279 288 567
SMU 281 286 567
9 San Diego State U. 283 287 570
10 Denver, U. of 285 286 571
11 Colorado State Univ. 282 290 572
12 San Jose State Univ. 282 292 574
13 Pacific, U. of the 293 283 576
14 Texas El Paso, U. of 285 293 578
15 UC-Santa Barbara 289 292 581
16 Utah, Univ. of 278 304 582
17 Hawaii-Hilo, U. of 294 292 586
18 UH Hilo B 297 294 591
19 Hawaii, Univ. of 297 296 593
San Francisco, U. of 294 299 593
Individual Standings
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 Spencer Levin New Mexico 67 65 132
2 Henry Liaw Arizona 69 64 133
3 Ryan Moore UNLV 70 65 135
4 Peter Tomasulo California 67 69 136
5 David Tasker Texas A&M 70 67 137
6 Brandon Abreu UH Hilo B 70 68 138
Nolan Martin Col. St. 67 71 138
Jake Ellison BYU 68 70 138
Jay Choi New Mexico 68 70 138
Jimmy Cunningham Denver 68 70 138
11 Kenny Coakley Colorado 69 70 139
Isaac Weintraub San Jose S 68 71 139
Travis Whisman UNLV 69 70 139
14 Matthew Kodama Hawaii 70 70 140
Kane Webber Colorado 70 70 140
Linus Nilsson SanDiegoSt 69 71 140
Ryan Keeney UNLV 72 68 140
*Charlie Beljan New Mexico 69 71 140
19 Chris Nallen Arizona 73 68 141
Mark Warman SanDiegoSt 72 69 141
Pierre-Henri Soero UH Manoa B 70 71 141
Chris Wells Pacific 73 68 141
Scott Carlyle California 72 69 141
David Schultz Texas A&M 70 71 141
Nathan Lashley Arizona 70 71 141
Dan Kleckner SMU 68 73 141
Dan Floyd UTEP 67 74 141
Michael Feuerstein UC-SaBarba 67 74 141