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Cougars Golfers Aim for Title at NCAA Golf Championship
For the second consecutive season, BYU's No. 13 men's golf team will play for a national championship as they gear up for the 2005 NCAA Golf Championship in Baltimore, Maryland.
June 1, 2005 BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the second consecutive season, BYU's No. 13 men's golf team will play for a national championship as they gear up for the 2005 NCAA Golf Championship in Baltimore, Maryland at the Caves Valley Golf Course. Thanks to a sixth-place finish in the NCAA West Regional in Stanford, Calif., the Cougars will play in their 26th NCAA Championship beginning Wednesday June 1 through Saturday June 4. Thirty teams and six individual players are set to tee off at the par-70, 7,129-yard course. "This is a great tournament to be a part of," said sophomore Jake Ellison. "We know we can play with every team in this tournament, we've proven that all year. It's time for us to play our best, because this is what it's all about." Four of BYU's starting five golfers competed at last year's NCAA Championship where BYU finished in ninth place. At last year's championship, the Cougars were as high as third place during the final day, but struggled on the back nine and slipped to ninth place. They were led by Junior Oscar Alvarez, who finished in 17th place last season. Alvarez finished fourth at the 2005 NCAA West Regional and has the best stroke average on the team at 71.33. He is also ranked No. 13 individually in the nation behind No. 1 Ryan Moore of UNLV and No. 2 New Mexico's Spencer Levin. Along with Alvarez, seniors Greg Machtaler and Ron Harvey, Jr. along with Ellison return to their second NCAA Championship. Machtaler has the team's second-best stroke average on the season and is ranked No. 52 nationally while fellow Canadian Ron Harvey, Jr. is ranked No. 88. Harvey has had a solid past month of golf. Two weeks ago he finished tied for 39th at the NCAA West Regional and prior to that he finished third at the MWC Golf Championship. BYU's hottest golfer this spring has been sophomore Nick Becker, the reigning MWC medalist. Becker is ranked No. 70 nationally after three consecutive top 15 finishes this past month which include a third-place finish at the Cougar Classic, first place at the MWC Championship and a 15th-place finish at the NCAA West Regional. Becker is the lone Cougar who did not play on last year's ninth-place team. This will be BYU's first chance of playing at Caves Valley Golf Club. Ten of the 30 teams participating in the national championship played in the PING Preview held on this course back in September. The Cougars were invited to play in this prestigious tournament, but couldn't compete because it was held on Sunday, which is against BYU's no Sunday play policy. Caves Valley Golf Club is a Tom Fazio-designed course that opened in 1991, and has already hosted some prestigious tournaments. Caves Valley has played host to the 2002 U.S. Senior Open Championship, the 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and the 1997 and 2004 A.J.G.A. Canon Cup Tournaments. "It's going to be a fun, but challenging course to play," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "I think our team is ready to go out and play well. We've got a real special group of guys on this team, who are all capable of winning it. If we can get hot and get our putts to fall, who knows what will happen." The Golf Channel will air much of the tournament's final three rounds tape delay each day from 1 p.m. till 3 p.m. MST. Fans can also follow the tournament live on the internet at www.golfstat.com The Cougars will be the first team to tee off along with Alabama and Arkansas BYU tees off at 7 a.m. on the No. 1 tee for Wednesday's first round.
BYU GOLF QUICK FACTS Team Stroke Averages BYU in the National Rankings BYU - Individual GOLFSTAT Rankings Participating Teams West Regional East Regional Central Regional
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