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May 20, 1999

TUCSON, Ariz. - The seventh-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils opened play of the 1999 NCAA Men's Golf West Regional at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course with a 5-under-par 283 total and own a five shot lead heading into tomorrow's second round. The Sun Devils, whose total was aided in part by having two golfers tied for second, lead second-ranked UNLV and No. 16 Brigham Young, who are tied for second place after shooting rounds of even-par 288.

Fresno State is in fourth place at 2-over-par 290 and Washington rounds out the top-five at 3-over-par 291.

As for Arizona, the Wildcats opened with a 13-over-par 301 and are in a four-way tie for 13th with UTEP, California and Stanford.

"We played with two of the better teams in the country today (BYU and UNLV)," Arizona State head coach Randy Lein said. "We saw a lot of birdies. The weather was to our liking, the wind was not a factor until the end and the course was in great shape. We should expect to see low scores."

The individual lead is held by Brigham Young junior Jose Garrido, who opened today's play with a 4-under-par 68. Garrido, who was playing the back-nine first, got off to a hot start by birdying his first two holes and shot a 33 on his front nine and finished with a 35 on the back.

"I played real smart today," Garrido said. "I didn't make a lot of mistakes. I hit the ball real well off the tee and ended up hitting 16 greens."

Garrido enjoys a one-shot lead over a group of three golfers, Arizona State's Matt Jones and Jeff Quinney, and Fresno State's Todd Rose, who are tied for second place after each carded rounds of 3-under-par 69.

"I'm very happy with the way I played," Jones said. "I'm most happy with my shot selection and the way I managed the course. I have a tendency to try and do things I shouldn't. Today I didn't do that."

"The course played pretty easy for me," Quinney said. "I thought the scores were going to be pretty low. The team's off to a good start, but there's a lot of golf left. It's always good to get off to a good start."

In a three-way tie for fifth at 2-under-par 70, is Wyoming's David Hearn, Washington's Troy Kelly and San Diego State's James Spence. Hearn is competing as an individual.

Arizona was led by Andy Barnes, who is tied for 33rd after shooting a 2-over par 74 (36-38). Derek Gillespie is tied for 48th with a 3-over-par 75; Cody Beyer and Tim Weiss are each tied for 53rd with a 4-over-par 76 and Scott Moore is tied for 67th after carding a 5-over-par 77.

The second round of the 54-hole tournament of play gets underway tomorrow morning with tee times beginning at 7 a.m. The top-nine teams and two individuals -- not among the the top teams -- will qualify for the NCAA Men's Golf Championships, which are set for June 2-5, in Chaska, Minn., at the Hazeltine National Golf Club.

NCAA West Regional

First Round Results

Team Standings: 1. ASU 283; 2T. UNLV 288; BYU 288; 4. Fresno St. 290; 5. Washington 291; 6. San Diego St. 293; 7. Oregon State 295; 8T. UCLA 296, Colorado St. 296; 10. Oregon 297; 11. Pepperdine 298; 12. New Mexico 299; 13T. Arizona 301, UTEP 301, California 301, Stanford 301; 17. USC 304; 18. UCSB 309.

Top Individuals: 1. Jose Garrido (BYU) 68; 2T. Todd Rose (Fresno St.) 69, Jeff Quinney (ASU), Matt Jones (ASU) 69; 5T. David Hearn (Wyoming-ind) 70, Troy Kelly (Wash) 70, James Steward (SDSU) 70; 8T. Nigel Spence (Colo St.) 71, John Lepak (OSU) 71, Billy Harvey (BYU) 71, Michael Kirk (UNLV) 71, Charley Hoffman (UNLV) 71, Adam Scott (UNLV) 71.

Other Washington Finishers: 19T. Robb Bergeson 73; 33T. Gordy Scutt 74; Rob Rashell 74; 53T. Scott Kral 76.