Aug. 21, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

Michael Mezei, who will join the University of Wyoming men's golf team in the fall, captured the 2000 Royal Canadian Golf Association Junior Championship this past weekend. The tournament was played on the Crown Isle Resort and Golf Club in Comox, British Columbia.

The tournament was contested over four days, Aug. 15-18. Mezei shot rounds of 70, 75, 68, 70 for a 72-hole total of 283, winning the most prestigious junior golf title in Canada by two strokes.

"Michael (Mezei) played outstanding golf from start to finish," said UW men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "Michael has been one of the most accomplished junior golfers in Canada over the past couple of years. His performance this past week shows that he is a young man who can come into our program this fall and contribute right away.

"We've had a good succession of top Canadian players join our program over the past few years. David Hearn (a senior from Brantford, Ontario) has of course had an outstanding career at Wyoming, qualifying for the NCAA West Regional each of the past two years, and Kurt Kowaluk (a redshirt sophomore from Lively, Ontario) is a young man who I expect to make a big contribution to our team this coming year."

Mezei, 5-10, 160 pounds, brings a number of other golf accomplishments with him to Wyoming. He won the Alberta PGA Junior Master's title, and also placed fifth at the American Junior Golf Association Western Canadian Invitational. Mezei also was a member of the Alberta Provincial Team, which is comprised of the top junior golfers from the province of Alberta, and he was selected to the Alberta Junior America's Cup Team.

Mezei attended Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge, Alberta. He plans on majoring in chemical engineering at UW. The son of Peggy and Gerry Mezei, he was also recruited by the University of Louisville and the University of Oregon.