PROVO -- The No. 15 BYU men's golf team got off to a fast start at the PING Cougar Classic on Friday, shooting rounds of 272 and 278 to take a commanding 14-stroke lead through 36 holes.
"This is a great momentum builder for us as our last regular-season tournament of the year," said BYU assistant coach Todd Miller, who took charge of the Cougars on Friday. "It's nice to put together a couple of good rounds. Everyone is playing really relaxed and lose."
The Cougars took advantage of playing on their home course at the Riverside Country Club with a first-round score of 272, 16-under par and 10 shots better than UC Davis and Nevada. Senior Jake Ellison, playing in his final home tournament, paced BYU with a first-round 66 as all five Cougars shot par or under, including 67s from Robbie Fillmore and Daniel Summerhays and 72s from Clay Ogden and Nick Becker.
Threatening skies were not enough to slow BYU down as second-round action saw the Cougars extend their lead to 14 strokes with a score of 278. BYU's 36-hole total of 550 topped second-place Nevada's 564 tally. Ellison, seeking his first collegiate tournament win in his final regular-season collegiate tournament, continued his solid play with a score of 67. The senior compiled a 36-hole total of 133 to lead the tournament individually by four strokes.
"It's pretty nice to be at home," said Ellison. "There's a lot of birdies to be had out there, and we're all playing well. It's good to play so well as a team. There's a lot of good teams and players out there. To see all of our guys near the top is a good sign."
Three other BYU golfers shot under par on the day as Summerhays and Fillmore each carded a 138 to tie for fourth through two rounds and Ogden followed with a 141, tied for 13th. Fellow Cougars Brady Johnson and Nick Killpack, both competing individually, were also among the 22 golfers under par through 36 holes with scored of 139 and 143, respectively.
BYU saw some familiar faces on the course Friday as five of its Mountain West Conference competitors also took advantage of the opportunity to tune-up before next week's MWC Championship in Tucson, Ariz. No. 58 Colorado State was the next highest MWC competitor in the field as the Rams tied for third on Friday with a score of 574.
Final-round action will begin Saturday at 8 a.m. The Cougars, already well on their way to defending their 2006 PING Classic title, will begin at 9:20 with Becker teeing off. Ellison will begin his final round at 10 a.m.
Ping Golf Cougar Classic
Team Scores
Day 1
Fin. School Scores
1 Brigham Young 272 278 550 -26
2 Nevada 282 282 564 -12
3 Colorado State 285 289 574 -2
Texas El Paso 293 281 574 -2
5 New Mexico State 283 292 575 -1
6 Utah 287 291 578 +2
7 Denver 288 291 579 +3
8 New Mexico 290 293 583 +7
9 Southern Utah 292 293 585 +9
10 UC Davis 282 304 586 +10
11 Hawaii 295 292 587 +11
12 Fresno State 293 295 588 +12
13 Wyoming 303 292 595 +19
Boise State 304 291 595 +19
Utah State 297 298 595 +19
16 Northern Colorado 297 301 598 +22
17 Utah Valley State 304 295 599 +23
18 Air Force Academy 299 301 600 +24
19 Weber State 294 307 601 +25
BYU Individuals
Fin. Name Scores
1 Jake Ellison 66 67 133 -11
T4 Daniel Summerhays 67 71 138 -6
T4 Robbie Fillmore 67 71 138 -6
T6 Brady Johnson* 71 68 139 -5
T13 Clay Ogden 72 69 141 -3
T19 Nick Killpack* 67 76 143 -1
T55 Nick Becker 72 77 149 +5
T90 Brad Nicholson* 70 86 156 +12
* indicates BYU golfers competing individually