STANFORD -- First-round leader Oscar Alvarez set a course record as he helped BYU jump out of the gates to lead the 27-team field of the 2005 NCAA Men's Golf West Regional at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif. on Thursday.
No. 12 BYU holds a one-shot lead over second-place Pepperdine and a three shot lead over top seed UNLV after the first round. The Cougars' strong start was the result of Alvarez's course record seven-under-par 63. The prior course record was a 64. With seven birdies and an eagle on the day, Alvarez's confidence was sky high. He holds an impressive three-shot lead over Arizona's Nathan Lashley and Pepperdines Michael Putnam. Alvarez lipped a putt out on the last hole to just miss finishing his round with five consecutive birdies.
"I had a lot of fun out there," Alvarez said. "I wasn't hitting it all that well, but I probably putted as well as I ever had. When I stepped up to putt, I knew it was going to go in. It's really all about the putting."
Alvarez often plays his best golf in the biggest tournaments. Last season Alvarez finished fourth at the NCAA West Regional and 17th at the NCAA Championship leading his team in both tournaments. This year Alvarez made a statement in the first round against many of the nation's top individual golfers, including the nation's top collegiate golfer and defending NCAA champion Ryan Moore who finished six strokes back of Alvarez.
The Cougars also had solid play from the entire team. Senior Ron Harvey Jr. played big in his fourth consecutive NCAA Regional. Harvey had a big birdie on No. 16 to help him finish the first round tied for 19th at one-over-par 71. Fellow senior Greg Machtaler birdied two out of his last four holes to finish two-over 72 and is tied for 34th place.
2005 MWC Medalist Nick Becker was five over on the front nine before playing the back nine three-under-par. He finish the day at two-over-par thanks to three big birdies on the in his final eight holes. Sophomore Jake Ellison was three-over-par 73 and is tied for 52nd place.
"The golf course is extremely tough and our guys just played sensational," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We were fortunate to have a great tee time and I'm just really proud of how smart and tough we played today."
BYU's top finish at the NCAA Regional came in 2000 when the Cougars finished second behind the play of All-American Andy Miller. The Cougars hope the play of another All-American--Alvarez--can lead them back to the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive year. BYU finished ninth at last year's NCAA Championship. With two more rounds to play (Friday and Saturday), BYU hopes to be among the top 10 in order to advance to the NCAA Championship.
"Our guys know they can play well at this level," Brockbank said. "We're going to go out tomorrow and play with the same attitude and hopefully play good, smart golf."
BYU will tee off at 7:57 a.m. PST on Friday. Fans can follow the Cougars with live scoring available on the internet at www.golfstat.com
TEAM SCORES
1. Brigham Young 278 -2
2. Pepperdine 279 -1
3. UNLV 281 +1
4. Arizona 283 +3
5. New Mexico 284 +4
6. San Diego State 286 +6
6. USC 286 +6
6. Washington 286 +6
9. UCLA 288 +8
10. Stanford 289 +9
10. South Carolina 289 +9
12. Arizona State 290 +10
12. Auburn 290 +10
14. Oregon 292 +12
15. LSU 294 +14
15. Denver 294 +14
17. Fresno State 295 +15
27 TEAMS PARTICIPATING
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
1. Oscar Alvarez 63 -7
T19. Ron Harvey, Jr. 71 +1
T34. Nick Becker 72 +2
T34. Greg Machtaler 72 +2
T52. Jake Ellison 73 +3
Complete results of the first round are available at www.golfstat.com