SUNRIVER -- BYU's No. 13 men's golf team is in second place after the first day of the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championship at the Sunvriver Resort in Oregon on Thursday.
Two-time defending champion No. 5 New Mexico jumped out to a seven stroke lead behind the play of the No. 2 ranked golfer in the NCAA--Spencer Levin. Levin leads the tournament at three-under-par while teammate Jay Choi sits in second place at two-under-par. Two Cougars Nick Becker and Ron Harvey Jr. are tied for third at one-under-par.
Becker was at three under before bogeying No. 16 and 18 to fall to one-under-par. Harvey played steady all day and finished with three birdies (2, 12, 15) and two bogies (5 and 11). Both Harvey and Becker finished the day three shots ahead of the nation's No. 1 player Ryan Moore of UNLV who was tied with BYU's Jake Ellison at two-over par and in 16th place.
BYU's top two golfers Oscar Alvarez and Greg Machtaler both struggled during day one. Machtaler eagled his second hole, but then bogied six out of his next 10 holes including a double bogie on No. 9. Alvarez was five over after five holes, but came back to finish four over on the day. The Junior from Colombia is tied for 24th place out of 40 golfers.
The Cougars are tied for second with San Diego State in second place at four-over while No. 4 ranked UNLV is in fourth place at six-over par. With two more rounds of action the Cougars hope to close the difference with New Mexico and earn there 23rd conference championship and first championship since 2001.
Second round action will begin tomorrow on the Crosswater Course (Par 72/7,568). Follow the Cougars live on the internet at: www.golfstatresults.com.
2005 MWC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORES
1. New Mexico 285 (-3)
2. Brigham Young 292 (+4)
3. San Diego State 292 (+4)
4. UNLV 294 (+6)
5. Colorado State 297 (+9)
6. Utah 300 (+12)
7. Wyoming 300 (+12)
8. Air Force 312 (+24)
BYU INDIVIDUALS
T3. Nick Becker 71 (-1)
T3. Ron Harvey Jr. 71 (-1)
T16. Jake Ellison 74 (+2)
T24. Oscar Alvarez 76 (+4)
T28. Greg Machtaler 77 (+5)