PROVO -- Lead by the steady play of Junior Jake Ellison, BYU finds itself in fourth place heading into the final round of the PING Cougar Classic at the Riverside Country Club.
Ellison is currently in 6th place at seven-under-par after shooting a team low 67 for the second round. For Jake, it just felt good to play well at the Cougar's home tournament.
"I have not played well here the last two years," he said. "I played fairly mistake free this afternoon, and I was hitting the ball great."
Head coach Bruce Brockbank was also impressed with Jake's performance. "I loved the way that Jake bounced back today," he said. "He really wanted to play well here."
Weber State's Barry Schenk leads the tournament after shooting 67 and 66 in the first two rounds. At eleven-under-par, Schenk is a mere stroke ahead of Utah's Dustin Pimm.
Overall, the Cougars shot 557 for the first two rounds and are six shots back of first place UNC Charlotte. Charlotte is currently ranked 28th in the country. Fresno State and Weber State are tied for second place, five shots back of the leader.
The opening round was a little strange for BYU's Nick Becker. After shooting a team low 67 in the first round, Becker was given a four shot penalty for having one to many clubs in his bag. Tournament rules only allow 13 clubs in one's bag.
"Nick just forgot to check his bag," coach Brockbank said. "It was just a careless mistake. We made a lot of those as a team today...I thought we played very mediocre."
Despite the Cougar's mediocre day, they have a great chance to win this tournament if they play well on Saturday.
"We're capable of shooting 20-under-par as a team tomorrow," coach Brockbank said. "We need our guys to play well tomorrow to win."
The Cougars have not won the PING Cougar Classic since 2002, when they shared the title with Colorado State and Nevada. The last outright championship for BYU occurred in 2000.
Capable teams such as tournament leader UNC Charlotte and No.7 ranked UNLV stand in the Cougars way. The rebels are coming off a tournament victory over some of the top ranked teams in the country including No.1 Georgia.
The final round of the PING Cougar Classic gets underway Saturday morning. The tournament is free to the public.
TEAM RESULTS
1. UNC Charlotte 276-275--551
2. Fresno State 275-281--556
2. Weber State 278-278--556
4. BYU 281-276--557
5. Nevada 289-276--557
6. Hawaii 287-279--566
7. Colorado St. 283-284--567
8. UNLV 283-286--569
8. UTEP 286-283--569
10. UVSC 288-284--572
11. Wyoming 295-282--577
12. Boise St. 289-289--578
13. Air Force 289-290--579
14. Utah 284-297--581
15. SUU 289-293--582
16. Utah St 287-300--587
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T6 Jake Ellison 70-67--137
*T6 Greg Hunt 68-69--137
T15 Daniel Summerhays 71-68--139
T15 Oscar Alvarez 69-70--139
T28 Nick Becker 71-71--142
*T33 Nick Killpack 71-72--143
T38 Clay Ogden 72-72--144
*80 Shaun Wurt 80-74--154
*Played as an individual...not reflective of team score