BALTIMORE -- BYU's Oscar Alvarez's three-under-par 67 helped the Cougars start the 2005 NCAA Golf Championship in sixth place on Wednesday at Cave's Valley Golf Club in Baltimore.
Similar to his first round 63 at the West Regional, Alvarez jump-started the Cougars out of the gates at the national championship. The junior from Colombia got his short game going when he holed it from the bunker on hole No. 3. He was even at the turn but finished three-under on the back nine. Alvarez is currently tied for fourth place individually--two strokes back of the leaders.
"I didn't really hit the ball all that well today, but just like at regionals, my putter was working really well for me," said Alvarez. "This course is really tough, but fortunately I was able to get up and down from just about everywhere today."
As a team the Cougars started a bit slow. BYU was 10-over-par after eight holes, but made a great comeback on the final 11. The Cougars were five-under on the final 11 holes, and finished the day at five-over-par 285.
"We had a little case of the nerves to start out with today, but we really made an impressive comeback," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank, who is coaching in his fifth NCAA Championship in 13 years. "To play those last 11 holes one-under-par is awesome. This is as good a golf course as you'll ever see and our guys hung in there and really played like champions today. I'm really excited about how they finished their round."
Fifth-ranked Georgia leads the tournament at six-under-par. NCAA West Regional champion UNLV finished the day one stroke ahead of the Cougars at four-over-par and is in fourth place in a 30-team field.
Along with Alvarez, BYU got two big scores from Ron Harvey, Jr. and Jake Ellison. Harvey and Ellison both finished the day at two-over-par and tied for 49th place. Harvey was four-over after nine holes before turning his game around on the back nine where he was two-under-par.
"He (Harvey) has more guts than anybody," Brockbank said. "To finish the back nine at two-under just shows how tough he is. He's been so steady the last seven or eight tournaments. It's great to have somebody like him on this team."
Ellison, who struggled at the NCAA West Regional was a big reason for the Cougars' first-round success. With MWC champion Nick Becker going nine-over-par on the day, BYU needed someone else to step up and score well.
"He stepped up for us today," Brockbank said. "We really needed that score from Jake (Ellison) and he came through and delivered. For us to be successful in this tournament we need Jake (Ellison) and Greg (Machtaler) to step up and give us some good scores. Luckily for us, both Jake and Greg did that for us today."
All-MWC Greg Machtaler also had a good day for BYU. His four-over-par 74 gave the Cougars a solid fourth score and put him in a tie for 87th place.
BYU now hopes to move up the leaderboard during Thursday's second round. The Cougars will tee off at noon and look to improve upon their first-round efforts.
"This is a good start for us," Alvarez said. "We just want to have a chance to win it on the final day."
The Golf Channel will air Thursday's second-round tape delay from 1 p.m. till 3 p.m. MST. Fans can also follow the tournament live on the internet at www.golfstat.com.
1 Georgia 274 274
T1 Kevin Kisner 65 65
T9 Brendon Todd 68 68
T14 Chris Kirk 69 69
T49 Richard Scott 72 72
T49 David Denham 72 72
2 Tennessee, Univ. of 279 279
T4 Ross McGowan 67 67
T14 Philip Pettitt 69 69
T33 David Skinns 71 71
T49 John Scott Rattan 72 72
T129 Ben Spickard 77 77
3 Arizona 282 282
T9 Travis Esway 68 68
T33 Josh Esler 71 71
T33 Nathan Lashley 71 71
T49 Brian Prouty 72 72
T87 Henry Liaw 74 74
T4 UNLV 284 284
T14 Ryan Keeney 69 69
T21 Andres Gonzales 70 70
T49 Ryan Moore 72 72
T71 Travis Whisman 73 73
T87 Jarred Texter 74 74
T4 Coastal Carolina 284 284
T14 Dustin Johnson 69 69
T33 Lindsay Renolds 71 71
T49 Moises Cobo 72 72
T49 Zack Byrd 72 72
T137 Brad Robinson 78 78
6 Brigham Young Univ. 285 285
T4 Oscar Alvarez 67 67
T49 Jake Ellison 72 72
T49 Ron Harvey, Jr. 72 72
T87 Greg Machtaler 74 74
T143 Nick Becker 79 79
T7 Georgia Southern 286 286
3 Aron Price 66 66
T21 David Palm 70 70
T71 Kurt Watkins 73 73
T129 Jon David Kennedy 77 77
T137 Bryan Jones 78 78
T7 Augusta State 286 286
T1 Major Manning 65 65
T33 Kalle Edberg 71 71
T49 Emmett Turner 72 72
T137 Scott Jamieson 78 78
T143 Mike Keast 79 79
T9 SMU 287 287
T14 Will Dodson 69 69
T33 Scott Abbott 71 71
T71 Colt Knost 73 73
T87 Wes Homan 74 74
* Dan Kleckner D D
T9 Georgia State Univ. 287 287
T33 Ben Taylor 71 71
T33 Steve Tiley 71 71
T49 Ty Harris 72 72
T71 Darren Baynes 73 73
T71 Joel Sjoholm 73 73
T9 Wake Forest Univ. 287 287
T9 Webb Simpson 68 68
T14 Sean Moore 69 69
T33 Doug Manchester 71 71
T143 Chris McCartin 79 79
T143 Kyle Reifers 79 79
T12 Duke University 288 288
T21 Michael Schachner 70 70
T21 Ryan Blaum 70 70
T87 Jake Grodzinsky 74 74
T87 Nathan Smith 74 74
T123 Michael Quagliano 76 76
T12 Georgia Tech 288 288
T14 Roberto Castro 69 69
T33 Michael Barbosa 71 71
T71 Chan Song 73 73
T107 Nicholas Thompson 75 75
T129 Kevin Larsen 77 77
T12 Arkansas, U. of 288 288
T21 Beau Glover 70 70
T33 Matt Bortis 71 71
T71 Josh Farrell 73 73
T87 Scott Campbell 74 74
T150 Eric Shriver 81 81
T15 New Mexico 289 289
T33 Miguel Griego 71 71
T49 Spencer Levin 72 72
T71 Mark Anderson 73 73
T71 Jay Choi 73 73
T107 Madalitso Muthiya 75 75
T15 Florida 289 289
T4 James Vargas 67 67
T87 Richard Treis 74 74
T87 Brett Stegmaier 74 74
T87 Matt Every 74 74
T107 Manuel Villegas 75 75
T15 Washington 289 289
T21 James Lepp 70 70
T33 Joe Panzeri 71 71
T87 Zach Bixler 74 74
T87 Erik Olson 74 74
T123 Alex Prugh 76 76
T18 Southern California 290 290
T33 Joshua Wooding 71 71
T49 Bradley Shaw 72 72
T49 Taylor Wood 72 72
T107 Tyler Ley 75 75
T107 Ben Hayes 75 75
T18 San Diego State 290 290
T33 Josh Warthen 71 71
T49 Andrew Scott 72 72
T71 Linus Nilsson 73 73
T87 Gilberto Rodriguez 74 74
T107 Aaron Choi 75 75
T18 Tulsa 290 290
T4 Mitch Cohlmia 67 67
T49 Ryan Henry 72 72
T107 Sam Korbe 75 75
T123 Austin Hackett 76 76
T129 Brett Myers 77 77
T21 Alabama, U. of 291 291
T21 Mark Harrell 70 70
T71 Clint Provost 73 73
T87 Joseph Sykora 74 74
T87 Gator Todd 74 74
T107 Thomas Hagler 75 75
T21 Kentucky, U. of 291 291
T21 John Holmes 70 70
T49 Mark Blakefield 72 72
T87 Brandon Waldrop 74 74
T107 Matt Wells 75 75
T123 Matt Kohn 76 76
T21 Arizona State U. 291 291
T21 Niklas Lemke 70 70
T71 Charly Simon 73 73
T71 Alejandro Canizares 73 73
T107 Pat Moore 75 75
T137 Jesse Mueller 78 78
24 Oklahoma State 292 292
T21 Alex Noren 70 70
T49 Pablo Martin 72 72
T87 Zack Robinson 74 74
T123 Tyler Leon 76 76
T129 Ryan Posey 77 77
T25 Stanford University 296 296
T21 Zack Miller 70 70
T33 Rob Grube 71 71
T123 Kevin Blue 76 76
T143 Matthew Savage 79 79
T143 Pat Phillips 79 79
T25 Texas AMUniversity 296 296
T9 Robert Gates 68 68
T49 Jerad Harklau 72 72
T107 David Schultz 75 75
T150 Martin Piller 81 81
T150 Andrew Parr 81 81
27 Texas 298 298
T21 Matthew Rosenfeld 70 70
T71 Matthew Mills 73 73
T129 Shaun Goodwin 77 77
T137 Jeff Bell 78 78
T150 Farren Keenan 81 81
T28 Purdue 299 299
T71 Peter Richardson 73 73
T87 Pariya Junhasavasdikul 74 74
T107 Bobby Bennett 75 75
T129 Santiago Russi 77 77
T137 Dustin Cone 78 78
T28 UCLA 299 299
T71 Kevin Chappell 73 73
T87 Chris Heintz 74 74
T107 Daniel Im 75 75
T129 John Poucher 77 77
T150 Joakim Renstrom 81 81
30 Missouri, U. of 300 300
T49 Shawn Jasper 72 72
T87 John Kelly 74 74
T107 Chris Mabry 75 75
T143 Trent Twaddle 79 79
T150 Ben Scott 81 81