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Cougars Capture the Conference Title The last time the Cougars won the MWC Conference Championship was in 2001.
April 30, 2007 Tucson, Ariz -- The No. 16 BYU men's golf team captured the MWC Championship title after a neck-to-neck battle with No. 6 UNLV in the final holes of the tournament on Saturday. Similar to what the No. 15 BYU women's golf team lived at their conference championship when they fell to TCU by one stroke last weekend, it all came down to one stroke again this time but the Cougars came up on top. Coming into the final round at Omni Tucson National Golf Course, BYU had an eight-stroke lead over UNLV, but slowly lost it during the first part of the day. They were tight and it showed in their game. The weather challenged the field as well when lightning started and 40-mil-per-hour wind picked up. At the turn the Cougars were four-over-par while UNLV was two-under-par. After a thirty minute weather delay, the Cougars knew they were going to have to clutch up and leave it all out there to get the win. "During the delay I came up to the guys and told them that nothing that had happened until that point mattered," said head coach Bruce Brockbank, "I knew we were frustrated because we weren't playing well but we had to leave that all behind and come back strong. I told them that we still had a chance to get it done." The team responded well in the back nine when they started making more birdie putts. They were tough down the stretch and after the first four groups came in, everything was tied up. It was all riding on the last group, where junior Daniel Summerhays and UNLV's Seung-su Han had one more hole to play. The eighteenth hole is a 443 par 4, where Summerhays hit his approach shot over the green and into the bunker while Han hit it fifteen feet from the pin. The bunker shot was tough and a ten-foot leave would have been a good out, but Summerhays hit the pin and lipped out for birdie. He only had a tap-in for par. Now Han was up to putt. A make would have given UNLV the win, two putts a tie; Han three-putted to finish with a bogey and give the one-shot lead back to BYU.
"We didn't play our best golf," said Brockbank, "but made a great effort and found a way to get it done," The last time the Cougars won the MWC Conference Championship was in 2001. In 2003, the Cougars fell to New Mexico in the first play-off hole after tying for first place. Leading BYU once again was Summerhays who had three birdies in the last six holes to finish third individually with a four-under-par total. Senior Clay Ogden was close behind with an even-par total and a ninth place finish. Freshman Robbie Fillmore struggled during the final round, but his efforts the first two days were enough to get him a thirteenth place finish and the MWC Conference Freshman of the Year honor. Senior Nick Becker finished tied for 14th with a three-over-par total and fellow classmate Jake Ellison finished tied for 22nd with a six-over-par total. Although Ellison struggled the first two days, he stepped up in the final round when he was most needed and was the low Cougar for the day with a two-under-par 69 that helped the Cougars get the win. Other Cougars with conference honors were Ellison, Summerhays and Ogden who made the All-Conference Team. Brockbank was honored with the MWC Coach of the Year award. "We couldn't have done it without Todd Miller our assistant, he is always positive and is a big part of our success," said Brockbank, "This is an exciting time for the team, the players and the program." The Cougars will head to the NCAA West Regionals at the end of the month. |
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