April 24, 1998

THIS WEEK: UNLV, the nation's unanimous No. 1 team, travels to Livermore, Calif., for the 16-team Western Athletic Conference Golf Championship at the par-72, 7,128-yard Poppy Ridge Golf Course, Monday, April 27 through Wednesday, April 29.

THE FORMAT: The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days with 18 holes each day. The first group will tee off each day at 8:00 a.m. and the last group will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m. Each team will have five players competing and the winner will be determined by the low four-man scores from each 18 hole round.

RANKED FIELD: Among the 16 WAC teams participating, nine are ranked in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. The teams include No. 1 UNLV, No. 7 TCU, No. 20 Colorado State, No. 22 Brigham Young, No. 25 New Mexico, No. 29 UTEP, No. 31 Tulsa, No. 40 SMU and No. 45 Hawai'i. Individually the conference has 16 players ranked in the top 100.

UNLV'S LINEUP: Competitors for the Rebels will be senior Bill Lunde, junior Chris Berry, junior Charley Hoffman, sophomore Jeremy Anderson and freshman Scott Lander.

STACKING UP: UNLV is an impressive 32-8 this season vs. the other 15 teams making up the 1998 WAC Championship. UNLV has a winning record against every team it has faced, except UTEP, which it is .500 (1-1) against. The Rebels are undefeated against nine WAC teams this year. UNLV hasn't faced San Jose State and Wyoming.

UNLV vs. THE WAC (32-8)Air Force Academy   1-0   San Jose State   0-0Brigham Young       3-0   SMU              4-0Colorado State      2-1   TCU              4-3Fresno State        2-0   UTEP             1-1Hawai'i             2-0   Tulsa            2-0New Mexico          7-2   Utah             1-0Rice                1-0   Wyoming          0-0San Diego State     2-0

LAST YEAR'S WAC TOURNAMENT: UNLV finished second out of 16 teams in last year's tournament, which was held at Columbia Lakes Country Club (par 72, 6,967 yards) in West Columbia, Texas. UNLV (286-287-286-859) finished seven shots back of team champion TCU. Individually, UNLV had two players place in the top-5. Jeremy Anderson (70-70-73-213) finished third and Gilberto Morales (73-70-71-214) finished tied for fourth. Andy Miller (68-70-70-208) of Brigham Young captured the individual championship. Other Rebels were Ted Oh (70-78-69-217), who tied for 11th, Bill Lunde (73-73-73-219), who tied for 15th at Mike Ruiz (73-74-77-224), who tied for 29th.

REBEL RANKINGS: UNLV is ranked No. 1 in all three polls for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Rebels were the unanimous No. 1 for the majority of the season, a feat never before accomplished by a UNLV golf team.

MasterCard (April 22)   Golfweek (April 5)   GCAA (April 22) 1.   UNLV*              1.   UNLV*           1.   UNLV* 2.   Clemson            2.   Georgia Tech    2.   TCU* 3.   Georgia Tech       3.   TCU*            3.   Clemson 4.   Arizona            4.   Clemson         4.   Oklahoma State 5.   Georgia            5.   Houston         5.   Arizona 6.   Oklahoma State     6.   Arizona         6.   Georgia Tech 7.   TCU*               7.   Oklahoma State  7.   Georgia 8.   South Carolina     8.   Georgia         8.   Houston 9.   Houston            9.   North Carolina  9.   Florida10.   North Carolina    10.   Arizona State  10.   Arizona State11.   Florida           11.   Arkansas       11.   Augusta State12.   Arkansas                Florida        12.   North Carolina13.   Augusta State     13.   Augusta State  13.   New Mexico*14.   Arizona State     14.   E. Tennessee St14.   Arkansas15.   Auburn            15.   South Carolina 15.   Brigham Young*16.   North Carolina St 16.   Auburn         16.   South Carolina17.   East Tennessee St       Florida State  17.   Minnesota18.   Florida State     18.   NC State       18.   Florida State19.   Virginia          19.   New Mexico*    19.   East Tennessee St.20.   Colorado State*   20.   Brigham Young* 20.   Oklahoma21.   Louisiana State   21.   Colorado State*21.   North Carolina State22.   Brigham Young*    22.   USC            22.   Colorado State*23.   UCLA              23.   Louisiana St   23.   Southern California24.   USC               24.   UTEP*          24.   Tulsa*25.   New Mexico*       25.   Minnesota      25.   Northwestern
*WAC team

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS: UNLV is the only team in the nation that has three players ranked in the MasterCard individual top 20. They are Jeremy Anderson (3rd), Bill Lunde (11th) and Charley Hoffman (18th).

RECORD BREAKERS: UNLV's win at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 18-20 was the best Rebel showing ever. UNLV (283-279-267-829, 35-under-par) set six records on its way to its fifth win of the season. The records follow:

• It was the first time that UNLV has recorded three-straight tournament wins. The Rebels' previ ous best was two in a row, which they accomplished twice (1992-93 and 1993-94).
• It was the first time that UNLV won more than four events in a season. The Rebels won four tournaments in 1993-94, 1995-96 and 1996-97.
• UNLV's third-round total of 267 set the record for the Rebels' lowest-ever round. The old mark was 271 at the 1992 NCAA West Regional at Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.
• UNLV's 21-under-par third round set the record for the Rebel's lowest under-par round ever. The old mark was 17-under-par at the 1992 NCAA West Regional.
• The Rebels' tournament total of 829 set the record for UNLV's lowest-ever tournament total. The old mark was 832 at the 1990 NCAA West Regional at the University Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M.
• The Rebels' 35-under-par tournament set the record for UNLV's lowest-ever under-par total. The old mark was 32-under-par at the 1990 NCAA West Regional.

REBEL HONORS: Sophomore Jeremy Anderson has been this season's most honored Rebel. Most recently Anderson was named WAC Golfer of the Week on April 15. He also won the award on Feb. 18. The GolfWorld Invitational and BELLSOUTH Yellow Pages Intercollegiate champion, was also named both the WAC Golf Athlete of the Month and the College Golf Foundation's Rolex National College Golfer of the Month for November.

REBELS REPRESETING THE NATION: Jeremy Anderson and Bill Lunde were recently selected to represent the United States at two different events. Anderson will take part in the Palmer Cup in St. Andrews, Scotland, while Lunde will play in the USA vs. Japan matches in Japan.

KNIGHT WINS NO. 30: With UNLV's latest team championship at the BELLSOUTH Yellow Pages Intercollegiate in Cary, N.C., Coach Knight won his 30th tournament with the Rebels.

ANDERSON WINS TWICE: With his latest individual title at the BELLSOUTH Intercollegiate, Jeremy Anderson became the first Rebel to win more than one tournament in a season since Chris Riley (3) and Edward Fryatt (2) accomplished the feat in 1993-94.

CONSISTENTLY GOOD: Jeremy Anderson has finished in the top 10 in seven out of 11 tournaments this season...UNLV has recorded top-5 finishes in 10 of 12 tournaments ...The Rebels have recorded 11 top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments (the Morris Williams Intercoll. only had nine teams).

RECORD-SETTING YEAR: UNLV has won a school-record six times this season. The previous best was four victories which the Rebels accomplished in 1993-94, '95-96 and '96-97.

SHOOTING FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Chris Berry and Bill Lunde's final-round scores of 65 at the John A. Burns tie them for the fourth-lowest round in Rebel history...Jeremy Anderson also shot a 65 in his win at the GolfWorld Invitational...Three ex-Rebels have shot rounds of 64...They were Chris Riley (1993-94), Warren Schutte (1992-93) and Edward Fryatt (1992-93)...Berry's Burns tournament total of 203 ties him with Anderson, who shot 203 at the GolfWorld Invitational earlier in the year, for the second-lowest 54-hole total in Rebel history...Hub Goyen shot the lowest 54-hole total in 1990 with 201 at the NCAA West Regional.

COACH KNIGHT SAYS: "We have had a very consistent year. We have six wins, which is an all-time high, even with post-season victories. Winning in North Carolina, which is a place we don't usually have much success, shows the strength and consistency of this team. We have won all over the country, which I think is very impressive. I think we were a little tired after the North Carolina trip, but we have had some time off to regroup and catch up with school work as well as work with some of the things in our golf game, so we are very excited about having a chance to compete at the WAC Championships."

LAST OUTING: UNLV won its sixth title of the year in its last outing at the BELLSOUTH Yellow Pages Intercollegiate in Cary, N.C., at the par-72, 6,829-yard MacGregor Downs Country Club, April 10-11.

NEXT OUTING: UNLV's next action will be May 14-16 at the NCAA West Regional at the Karsten Course at ASU (Par 72, 7,072 Yards) in Tempe, Ariz.