Cougars finish disappointing fourth at MWC Golf Championships

BYU's fifth-ranked men's golf team had a difficult final round finishing fourth at the Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship in Palm Desert, Calif. at the PGA West Nicklaus Tournament.

"We had another rough day," Brockbank said. "We started out well and then in a matter of a half-hour we went from three-under par to eight over par thanks to a quadruple bogie and six or seven double bogies."

Despite the Cougars' lackluster performance at the Conference Championships, BYU's Bruce Brockbank was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and two Cougars were named to the All-Mountain West Conference Team. Senior Andy Miller and Sophomore Manuel Merizalde were both named to the team. For Merizalde this was his second All-Conference selection in as many years. Andy Miller earned All-Conference honors for his fourth consecutive year.

Merizalde was the low Cougar after shooting a final-round 72 to finish at four-over-par. Andy Miller and Billy Harvey tied for fifteenth place after finishing 6-over-par.

The Cougars now look to put the MWC Championship behind them and concentrate on the NCAA Western Regionals to be held in Fresno, Calif. at the Riverbend Golf Course on May 18-20.

"This has been a very average week for the Cougars," Brockbank said. "We'll evaluate our performance and hopefully bounce back in Fresno."

1. UNLV280-286-279--845 (-19)

2. New Mexico296-288-284--868 (+4)

3. Colorado State287-283-300--870 (+6)

4. BYU296-280-301--877 (+13)

5. San Diego State308-286-303--897 (+33)

6. Utah308-297-294--899 (+35)

7. Wyoming302-298-306--906 (+42)

8. Air Force309-311-301--921 (+57)

BYU INDIVIDUALS

t11. Manuel Merizalde76-70-72--218

t15. Andy Miller73-70-77--220

t15. Billy Harvey72-72-76--220

t19. Scott Miller75-68-79--222

25. Todd Miller82-73-76--231

All-Mountain West Conference Team

Andy Miller, BYU, Sr.

Jeremy Anderson, UNLV, Sr.

Nigel Spence, Colorado State, Sr.

Manuel Merizalde, BYU, So.

Scott Piercy, San Diego State, Jr.

Michael Kirk, UNLV, Sr.

MWC Golfer of the Year

Jeremy Anderson, UNLV

MWC Golf Freshman of the Year

Michael Letzig, New Mexico

MWC Coach of the Year

Bruce Brockbank, BYU