PROVO -- Senior BYU men's golfer Greg Machtaler moved up the Golfweek national rankings from No. 29 to No. 19 after his performances at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate and the Ashworth Collegiate Invitational.
Machtaler, a native of Summerland, B.C., Canada, has placed in the Top 10 in all but one of BYU's tournaments and in the Top 5 five times this season.
According to Machtaler, the ranking doesn't mean much to him, but he is sure it will help the team and the future of the program.
"It will help the future of the program with recruiting, knowing that some of the nation's top collegiate golfers are here at BYU," Machtaler said. "I think it's great to be named No. 19, but I don't pay attention to the numbers so much as I just try to go out and play well."
During BYU's last two tournaments, Machtaler improved his season stroke average from 71.5 to 70.75 and remains third in Mountain West Conference in stroke average behind UNLV's Ryan Moore (68.17) and New Mexico's Spencer Levin (68.94). He also holds claim to the lowest round (63) in the MWC this season, ahead of Moore (64) and Levin (65).
At the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, Machtaler carded his second-best round (66), second-lowest tournament score (203) and second-best finish (second place) this season as he led the Cougars to a fourth-place finish in the tournament.
The final round of play at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate found Machtaler paired with the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 collegiate golfers, Moore and Levin respectively. Machtaler finished seven strokes back of the tournament champion Moore and in a three-way tie for second with Levin and Justin Madison (San Jose State).
At the Ashworth Collegiate Invitational, Machtaler finished in a sixth-place tie at even par, earning his seventh Top-10 finish and helping the Cougars to a second-place finish in the tournament and a No. 10 Golfweek ranking.
Machtaler said he hopes his performance this season will motivate the rest of the team to play well in the upcoming tournaments.
"I think I contribute a lot of confidence to the team," Machtaler said. "Confidence tends to rub off on other players. You see one guy playing well, it gives confidence to everyone."
2004-05 Stats
TOURNAMENT SCORES FINISH
Husky Invitational 70-72-72--214 (-2) T3/60
Tucker Invitational 70-72-80--222 (+6) T42/95
Fresno Lexus Classic 70-63-69--202 (-14) 1/95
Barona Collegiate Cup 68-70-68--206 (-10) T5/78
The Prestige 79-76-74--229 (+13) T13/84
Arizona Intercollegiate 69-70-70--209 (-4) T5/88
John A. Burns Intercollegiate 68-66-69--203 (-13) T2/120
Ashworth Collegiate Invitational 73-69-71--213 (E) T6/81
BYU Career Stats
Season Events Rnds. Strokes Avg. Low Top 20
04-05 8 24 1,698 70.8 63 7
03-04 13 40 2,907 72.7 67 5
02-03 13 39 2,805 71.9 66 9
01-02 8 23 1,687 73.3 64 2
Total 42 126 9,097 72.2 63 23