It used to be a regular occurrence, but it's been four years since the BYU golf team has made it to the NCAA golf tournament. With one of the youngest teams in the nation, the Cougars will try to advance to the NCAA golf tournament when they compete at the NCAA West Regional tournament at Carlton Oaks Country Club.
The Cougars are one of 18 teams competing Thursday through Saturday for nine spots in the NCAA tourney later this month. Also in the field will be two individuals from Utah, Utah State junior Todd Tanner and Utah junior John Owen.BYU is led by freshman Andy Miller, who took a surprising victory at last month's WAC championships. Others on BYU's young team team are sophomore Michael Henderson, freshman Jose Garrido, sophomore Matt Thurmond and senior Joseph Summerhays.
Cougar coach Bruce Brockbank, who hasn't taken a team to the NCAAs since his first year as coach in 1993, says his team has been shooting for this tournament all year.
"We've had a great year so far - I'm really proud of the way we've played," said Brockbank. "But this is what it's all about. It's been awhile since we've been to the nationals and our biggest goal is to make it there this year."
Brockbank feels his team's chances are good, particularly if Miller plays like he did at the WAC tournament and Henderson bounces back from a poor showing at the WAC tourney.
"We have a bunch of young kids and you never know how they'll react to the pressure of national-level competition," said Brockbank. "But I think they'll handle it OK. We're ready and excited to play."
Four of the nation's top 10 teams will be competing, including No. 1 UNLV, No. 5 USC, No. 7 Arizona State and No. 8 Arizona. Other ranked teams include No. 11 New Mexico and No. 22 UTEP.
Other teams in the field are San Jose State, Washington, Oregon, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, California, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State.