PROVO -- The BYU men's golf team trailed first-place Utah by three strokes after two rounds of play at the 42nd annual PING Cougar Classic on Friday.
A surprisingly strong effort by Utah, ranked 90th in the latest Golfweek.com team ratings, put the Utes in a dead heat with the No. 16 Cougars after round one. The second round was even more kind to the Utes (281-287--568) as they pushed ahead of BYU (281-290--571) behind Ashdon Woods' four-under-par 70-70--140.
BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank was pleased with his team's play, but also felt that the Cougars were capable of more.
"This is obviously not reflective of all we can do," Brockbank said. "But any time you're in contention to win a tournament, you're doing well."
For BYU, sophomore Oscar Alvarez (68-73--141) and junior Greg Machtaler (67-71--138) continued to have the hot hand. Alvarez's first-round 68 marked the 11th time this year he has shot in the 60s and, if he holds on, will place himself in the top 20 for the fifth consecutive time. Alvarez leads the Cougars with a 71.8 stroke average and a remarkable 70.9 average in BYU's five tournaments so far this spring. Machtaler, who took sixth place at the Border Olympics earlier this month, shot a season-low 67 in the first round and was holding at third place in the individual stats after 36 holes.
"My attitude's better and I am thinking better on the course," Machtaler said of his late-season surge. "It has helped my game and my confidence is higher."
The Cougars also picked up strong top-20 performances from their two individual players: junior Ron Harvey, Jr. (66-74--140) and sophomore Clay Bingham (70-72--142). Harvey and Bingham respectively placed sixth and 12th in the individual rankings and Harvey's first-round 66 was a career low.
The tournament's top individual on Friday was UTEP's Chris Baryla (66-70--136), who shot a combined eight-under-par through 36 holes.
The Cougar Classic, played on the par-72 course at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah, is the only home tournament of BYU's season and the Cougars were happy to be playing on their own turf.
"It feels great to be able to play golf and then go home and sleep in my own bed," Machtaler said.
BYU entered the Classic enjoying a banner year. The Cougars have placed fifth or better in nine of their 10 outings so far this season, including a win at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in March.
BYU tied for second place at last year's Cougar Classic, shooting 285-282-291--858 and losing by one stroke to champion Colorado State 283-288-286--857. Junior Greg Machtaler was BYU's best individual in the 2003 event, tallying a four-under-par 69-73-70--212. Colorado State's Martin Laird was the best individual overall with his seven-under 67-69-73--209.
BYU has won or tied for first at the Cougar Classic four out of the last six years. Former All-American and current LDS missionary Andy Miller was the last Cougar to take individual honors when he shot a third-round record 63 in 2000.
The Cougar Classic draws the following 14 teams with their current Golfweek rank in parenthesis: Denver (63), Colorado State (27), UTEP (52), Fresno State (69), Utah State (233), Southern Utah (195), Utah (90), Nevada (102), UC Davis, Wyoming (163), Hawaii (115), Boise State (140), Weber State (167), and Air Force (170).
The Cougar Classic will wrap up on Saturday with the final round beginning at 8:30 a.m.
PING Cougar Classic Provo, Utah
April 23-24 Riverside Country Club
Par: 72 Yardage: 7,001
Fin. Name Score
2 Brigham Young 281-290--571 (-5)
T 3 Greg Machtaler 67-71--138 (-6)
T 9 Oscar Alvarez 68-73--141 (-3)
T 26 Todd Miller 73-72--145 (+1)
T 40 Jake Ellison 73-74--147 (+3)
T 6 *Ron Harvey, Jr. 66-74--140 (-4)
T 12 *Clay Bingham 70-72--142 (-2)
Fin. School Score
1 Utah 281-287--568 (-8)
2 Brigham Young 281-290--571 (-5)
3 Boise State 288-284--572 (-4)
T 4 Texas El Paso 285-288--573 (-3)
T 4 Colorado State 286-287--573 (-3)
6 Fresno State 292-282--574 (-2)
T 7 Denver 287-292--579 (+3)
T 7 Nevada 286-293--579 (+3)
9 UC Davis 293-289--582 (+6)
10 Southern Utah 294-289--583 (+7)
11 Hawaii 296-291--587 (+11)
T 12 Weber State 286-303--589 (+13)
T 12 Wyoming 296-293--589 (+13)
14 Air Force Academy 294-299--593 (+17)
15 Utah State 293-302--595 (+19)
Fin. Top 20 Players School Score
1 Chris Baryla Texas El Paso 66-70--136 (-8)
2 Matthew Kodama Hawaii 70-67--137 (-7)
T 3 Graham DeLaet Boise State 69-69--138 (-6)
T 3 Greg Machtaler Brigham Young 67-71--138 (-6)
5 Ryan Carter Fresno State 73-66--139 (-5)
T 6 Nolan Martin Colorado State 69-71--140 (-4)
T 6 Ashdon Woods Utah 70-70--140 (-4)
T 6 *Ron Harvey, Jr. Brigham Young 66-74--140 (-4)
T 9 Oscar Alvarez Brigham Young 68-73--141 (-3)
T 9 Casey Fowles Utah 71-70--141 (-3)
T 9 Jason Williams Boise State 70-71--141 (-3)
T 12 Martin Laird Colorado State 73-69--142 (-2)
T 12 Casey Watabu Nevada 69-73--142 (-2)
T 12 Jason Ferrin Nevada 72-70--142 (-2)
T 12 *Clay Bingham Brigham Young 70-72--142 (-2)
T 16 Tad Hunt Southern Utah 72-71--143 (-1)
T 16 Garrett Clegg Utah 69-74--143 (-1)
T 16 Tyler Goulding Air Force Academy 70-73--143 (-1)
T 16 Erik Hill UC Davis 73-70--143 (-1)
T 16 Kenny Ebalo Southern Utah 72-71--143 (-1)
T 16 Nate Pettitt Colorado State 70-73--143 (-1)
T 16 *James Kurtenbach Colorado State 74-69--143 (-1)
* Played as an individual