AUBURN, Ala. - The BYU men's golf team fell short by two strokes in the final round of the NCAA Auburn Regional despite a solid team performance on Saturday.
"We felt strongly that we can make it to the championships and make some noise, but all in all, we came here and gave it a good effort," BYU golf coach Bruce Brockbank said. "Our goal was to get to the championships, but we'll fight through it and see how we can get better. We made it difficult for us to get the scores we needed, but it came down to the wire. We had a great year and I was pleased. We learned some great lessons with these great group of guys and we came together."
The Cougars dropped two places to tie in seventh with University of North Carolina at Greensboro. BYU finished the 54-hole tournament at 22-over-par trailing fifth place Texas by two strokes.
No. 1 ranked Alabama finished ahead of the pack at 11-under-par with second place Kennesaw finishing at 11-over-par.
Senior Justin Keiley finished the tournament tied in 15th place at 2-over-par to go along with a birdie for the final round.
"Keiley was consistent the whole tournament and we really have to hand it to him for carrying us," Brockbank said.
Joe Parkinson improved 14 places to tie in 28th place at 7-over-par. His third round score of 71 was a team low with a pair of birdies on the day. Jordan Rodgers tied in 39th at 10-over-par and added a birdie in the third round.
Senior Jordan Hammer trailed Rodgers by a single stroke to tie in 44th place at 11-over-par with a team-high four birdies on the day, while Cole Ogden tied in 52nd place at 13-over-par and a pair of birdies.
Indvidual participant Austin Peay State's Marco Iten finished the tournament in first place at 8-over-par. Alabama, Kennesaw State, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Texas will advance to the NCAA Championships on May 23-28.
"We're sure going to miss our seniors Justin and Jordan," Brockbank said. "Both those guys have done a great job for our team and we'll learn from them and their leadership. They have been a phenomenal example for our team."
BYU will look to build upon its strong season and carry it over next year with a solid group of returning players.
Individual Scores
| Place | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| T15 | Justin Keiley | 73 | 72 | 73 | +2 |
| T28 | Joe Parkinson | 75 | 77 | 71 | +7 |
| T39 | Jordan Rodgers | 77 | 71 | 78 | +10 |
| T44 | Jordan Hammer | 77 | 74 | 76 | +11 |
| T52 | Cole Ogden | 74 | 82 | 73 | +13 |
Team Scores
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Alabama | -11 |
| 2 | Kennesaw State | +11 |
| 3 | Auburn | +14 |
| 4 | Virginia Tech | +18 |
| 5 | Texas | +20 |
| 6 | New Mexico | +21 |
| T7 | BYU | +22 |
| T7 | UNCG | +22 |
| T9 | Louisville | +24 |
| T9 | UC Davis | +24 |
| 11 | Sam Houston State | +25 |
| 12 | Colorado | +37 |
| 13 | Alabama State | +49 |
| 14 | St. John's | +54 |