WAHIAWA -- Not satisfied with the results of a tournament in Arizona two weeks ago, the BYU men’s golf team got off to a great start in Wednesday’s first round of the John A. Burns Invitational.
The Cougars currently sit in fourth place at 7-under-par between powers Arkansas and Auburn after a strong showing at the par-72 Leilehua Golf Course.
“It was fun to see the guys get started off in the right direction,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “We’re having a good experience and showing some confidence.”
The team is led by senior Nick Killpack and junior Brady Johnson, who are tied for eighth place at 4-under-par 68. Both played well in the back-nine holes, scoring 3-under-par 33 and one-under-par 35 in the front nine.
Freshman Jordan Hammer is actually in the overall lead for the Cougars at six-under-par 66 and currently tied for second place in the field of 96 golfers, but is registered as an individual; thus his score is not counted toward the team score. He shot 4-under-par 32 in the front nine holes and is tied with San Jose State’s Jay Myers.
“To have three guys score in the 60s is exciting,” Brockbank said. “It was a good round for us.”
Fellow freshman Stephen Archibald also had a strong opening round, scoring a one-under-par 71 and is tied for the No. 32 spot. Junior Robbie Fillmore and sophomore Esteban Calisto rounded up the playing field for the Cougars and currently sit at +2 and +3, respectively.
Freshman Jordan Rodgers is also playing individually and is tied at No. 53 at two-over-par.
Arizona’s Tarquin Macmanus leads the field at 8-under-par. MWC foe New Mexico is in second place, while UNLV sits in 11th place at one-under-par.
“We’re playing with the leaders,” Brockbank said. “We haven’t had a lot of that this season, so hopefully we can handle our nerves and stay in contention. We’re optimistic for tomorrow.”
Round two will resume Thursday with the final round being played on Friday.
2009 John A. Burns Invitational
BYU
T2 J. Hammer* 66 -6
T8 N. Killpack 68 -4
T8 B. Johnson 68 -4
T32 S. Archibald 71 -1
T53 R. Fillmore 74 +2
T53 S. Rodgers* 74 +2
T65 E. Calisto 75 +3
* - individual
The field
1 Arizona -12
2 New Mexico -11
3 Arkansas -8
4 BYU -7
5 Auburn -5
6 Nevada -4
T7 SMU -3
T7 UC Santa Barbara -3
T9 Texas A&M -2
T9 Colorado State -2
T11 UC San Diego -1
T11 UNLV -1
13 Denver +3
14 Hawaii +4
15 San Jose State +5
T16 Hawaii-Hilo +10
T16 UTEP +10