BYU men’s golf team seeks to bounce back

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The BYU men’s golf team hopes to put a ninth place finish behind them as they head into the William H. Tucker invitational this weekend.

The coaches and players were disappointed with the results of the ninth place finish, but are confident they have identified the necessary areas of improvement.

Coach Bruce Brockbank talked about the need to adjust and develop more consistency as a team, especially shots close to the hole.

“The bottom line is we need to make more putts,” Brockbank said. “The difference is in our short game.”

Besides the short game, Brockbank also said the team has to be more tough mentally throughout all the rounds.

“The first round was pretty good,” Brockbank said. “In the second round it was like we all caught part of the flu.”

Adam Tebbs, a senior who finished third on the BYU team and 38th overall, agreed with Brockbank.

“I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but we all kind of tanked it in the second round,” Tebbs said. “We got really cold with the putter.”

Tebbs said it was frustrating because the team had high expectations of being in the top three. But even with the poor finish, there were some bright spots.

Sophomore Devon Purser was one of those bright spots. He led the team finishing 4-over-par and 13th overall.

“Purser had a great game,” Tebbs said. “We also have Zac Blair, who is one of the best in the country. We can regroup and look forward to our next tournament.”

Brockbank expects the team to regroup because it was uncharacteristic play for the whole team, particularly from their leader, Blair.  It has been two or three years since he has seen Blair play they way he did, but expects him to be back to his normal self this weekend.

Blair finished fourth on the team and 43rd overall.

Blair and the other BYU golfers have been working hard since then to put themselves in a position to regroup.

Stephen Archibald, another sophomore on the team, finished fifth and has been putting in extra time on his chipping and putting.

“I am out there for about 30 hours a week about five hours a day,” Archibald said. “I’m trying to get my putting honed in so I can minimize those mistakes.”

Archibald believes everyone will have a bad shot or two and make mistakes. But he also believes that if the team can grind it out and play their best as a team then they will have a chance of turning a ninth place finish into a first place finish.

“We have great chemistry as a team,” Archibald said. “I know we can be in contention.”

Coach Brockbank anticipates a much better result.

“Traditionally, we have done very well at this tournament,” Brockbank said.

The tournament will take place in New Mexico Friday-Saturday, Sept 28-29. It will consist of 15 teams.

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