AUSTIN -- A solid effort by the BYU men’s golf team was evident as freshman Jordan Hammer hit a hole-in-one to help the Cougars to a 14th-place finish after two rounds of the Morris Williams Invitational.
Hammer’s stroke took place on the par-3 second hole in the first round at the University of Texas Golf Club to highlight the team’s efforts as they ended the day at 44-over-par and tied with Oklahoma for 14th place overall in the 18-team field.
“We hit good shots, but we missed a lot of shots, too,” said head coach Bruce Brockbank. “Hammer had the great shot with the hole-in-one and we had a few bright spots despite missing shots we usually make.”
Hammer once again did well on hole two in the second round by making par and later scored a birdie on hole 18 to finish the back nine on a good note. He improved his second-round score by three strokes to end the two rounds at 15-over-par overall.
Junior Brady Johnson played consistently as he shot a 2-over 73 in the first round en route to a 7-over-par finish after two rounds and currently sits in 21st place overall in the field of 95 golfers. He made three birdies in each round to lead the team with six on the day.
“This course is very fast,” Brockbank said. “Brady played pretty good and made a lot of shots at par. There were times we had opportunities to make something happen, but they just weren’t sinking today.”
Nick Killpack also had a solid day by scoring three birdies between the rounds and shot a 4-over-par 75 in the second round to end the day at 12-over-par. He made eleven consecutive holes at par in the second round.
“I’m proud of the way Johnson and Killpack stayed in there and made a lot of their holes at par,” Brockbank said.
Junior Robbie Fillmore and freshman Jordan Rodgers finished the rounds at 13-over and 15-over, respectively, to round up the Cougar roster. Fillmore had a birdie in each round, while Rodgers totaled three birdies in the two rounds.
“A lot of teams are playing mediocre and not doing so well,” Brockbank said. “We need to putt better in the third round and hang in there down the stretch.”
Play will resume Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. MT and can be followed on golfstat.com.
2009 Morris Williams Invitational
BYU T14/18 +44 305-307
T21 Johnson 73-76 +7
T51 Killpack 79-75 +12
T59 Fillmore 76-79 +13
T73 Rodgers 77-80 +15
T78 Hammer 80-77 +15
The field
1 Oklahoma State +1
2 USC +16
3 Arkansas +22
4 Texas +27
T5 Pepperdine +28
T5 TCU +28
7 SMU +30
8 Texas Tech +35
T9 Baylor +39
T9 UNLV +39
T9 Texas A&M +39
12 Tulsa +41
13 New Mexico State +42
T14 BYU +44
T14 Oklahoma +44
16 Rice +45
17 New Mexico +47
18 Air Force +69