By MATTHEW PRIBYL
The men's golf team finished 10th in the 43rd annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate golf Tournament held at the University of New Mexico Sept. 19-20.
The Cougars shot a one-under par 285 to tie for eighth after weather halted the completion of the first round. Although the tournament was scheduled for 54 holes, the threat of lightning caused officials to cut the total holes played to 36.
There were 12 teams from the Top 25 competing for the title. However, unranked University of Texas at El Paso led the way after the first round of team competition behind an eight-under par 280. UTEP edged out No. 17 Georgia Tech and No. 6 New Mexico by a stroke.
At the end of the first day of individual competition, New Mexico's Doug La Belle was atop the leader board, carding a five-under par 67. The top Cougar was junior Matt Thurmand, who shot a three-under par 69 to tie for sixth. Jesse Hibler, Jose Garrido and Andy Miller were three Cougars who found themselves in a log-jam at 41st, tied with 10 other golfers who shot an even-par 72 in the first round.
With gusting winds and rain, the second day of action saw BYU fighting to stay in the tourney. Unfortunately, the adverse weather conditions were too much as the Cougars dropped from eighth to 10th place, shooting a 300 for the tournament.
The Cougars tied with No. 5 Georgia Tech in the latest national collegiate golf rankings released by MasterCard. BYU head coach, Bruce Brockbank, gave his opinion of the team's performance.
'We were a little sloppy today,' Brockbank said. 'It was cold, rainy, and the winds were blowing anywhere from 10-30 mph. We also were not very mentally tough. We got off to a sloppy start and played that way the rest of the day.'
Not all was discouraging for the Cougars, as sophomore Miller shot a one-under par 71 on the last day. Miller finished tied for 16th with a score of 143, six strokes short of co-champions La Belle of New Mexico and Edward Loar of Oklahoma State. Both finished with a seven-under par 137.
As for the other Cougars, Thurmand finished 27th with a 145, Garrido was 64th with a 150 and Hibler was 76th with a 151.
With the William H. Tucker Invitational now completed, the Cougars know they have room for improvement. They will now set their sights on the Nike Northwest Tournament in Oregon Oct. 6-7.