March 10, 1998
THIS WEEK: The unanimous No. 1-ranked UNLV golf team will be competing in Las Vegas this weekend for the first time in two years as the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational presented by Taylor Made comes to the Desert Inn Golf Club (Par 72, 7,013 yards) on Friday-Sunday, March 13-15.
The tournament, considered "The Masters of College Golf," has been moved to Las Vegas this year after being held in Houston, Texas, in the past.
THE FORMAT: A practice round will be held on Thursday, March 12, and 18 holes will be played each day from Friday, March 13-Sunday, March 15. The teams will tee off from the first and 10th holes at 7:30 a.m. with eight minute intervals between groups. The groups will be staggered about three minutes between the first and 10th tees.
TOP-RANKED FIELD: Among the 15 teams participating, 11 are ranked in the top 25 of the MasterCard Collegiate Rankings. The teams include No. 1 UNLV, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Clemson, No. 8 Houston, No. 9 TCU, No. 12 East Tennessee State, No. 14 Florida, No. 16 New Mexico, No. 18 Arizona State, No. 21 Southern California and No. 24 Virginia. The teams that are not ranked are Texas, Pepperdine, SMU and Wake Forest.
UNLV'S LINEUP: Competing for the Rebels will be senior Bill Lunde, junior Chris Berry, junior Charley Hoffman, sophomore Jeremy Anderson and freshman Scott Lander.
LAST YEAR'S GOLF DIGEST: The Rebels finished second out of 15 teams in last year's Golf Digest tournament in Houston, Texas. UNLV (298-291-Rain-589) finished one shot behind New Mexico (299-289-588). Individualy, Ted Oh (73-73-146) and Bill Lunde (74-72-146) led the Rebels by tying for eighth. Jeremy Anderson (74-73-147) tied for 13th.
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.
REBEL RANKINGS CONT.:MasterCard (Feb. 25) Golfweek (March. 5) GCAA (Dec. 1)1. UNLV 1. UNLV 1. UNLV2. Arizona 2. Georgia Tech 2. Clemson3. Georgia Tech 3. Arizona 3. TCU4. Arkansas 4. TCU 4. Arizona5. Georgia 5. Oklahoma State 5. Oklahoma St.6. Oklahoma State 6. Arkansas 6. Georgia Tech7. Clemson 7. Clemson 7. Arkansas8. Houston 8. Houston 8. Georgia9. TCU 9. Georgia 9. Houston10. South Carolina 10. Augusta State 10. Florida11. Augusta State 11. South Carolina 11. Augusta State12. East Tennessee State12. Arizona State 12. Arizona State13. Colorado State 13. East Tennessee State 13. Auburn14. Florida 14. North Carolina 14. Oklahoma15. North Carolina 15. Colorado State 15. Colorado St.16. New Mexico 16. Florida 16. East Tenn. St.17. BYU 17. New Mexico 17. S. Carolina18. Arizona State 18. BYU 18. BYU19. Oklahoma 19. Auburn 19. Northwestern20. Auburn 20. North Carolina State 20. UCLA21. Southern California 21. UTEP 21. New Mexico22. LSU 22. LSU 22. USC23. UTEP 23. Minnesota 23. Virginia24. Virginia 24. Southern California 24. Ohio State25. North Carolina State25. Oklahoma 25. Kent State
UNLV is just one of two teams that has three players ranked in the MasterCard individual top 20. They are Jeremy Anderson (3rd), Bill Lunde (7th) and Charley Hoffman (17th).
RECORD BREAKERS: UNLV's win at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in its last appearance 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' previous best was two in a row, which they accomplished twice (1992-93 and 1993-94).
- It was the first time that UNLV won five events in a season. The previous mark was four, which was set 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 Feb. 18. The GolfWorld Invitational 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.
OTHER REBEL NOTES: UNLV has recorded seven top-10 finishes in eight tournaments this season...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 Rebels have shot rounds of 64...They are 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.
HEAD COACH DWAINE KNIGHT: One of the top collegiate coaches in the country, Dwaine Knight is in his 11th season with the Rebels. He has guided UNLV to four conference championships and three NCAA West Regional championships. In 1991 he was named the Golf Coaches Association of America's National Coach of the Year and the NCAA District VIII Coach of the Year. In 1992 he headed the staff for the United States vs. Japan All-Star Matches and was the West Team's coach at the NCAA East vs. West All-American Matches in 1994. Although he has received numerous accolades while with the Rebels, perhaps the highest honor Knight has received was when he was named the United States Palmer Cup Team Captain last year. Knight came to UNLV in the Fall of 1988 from New Mexico where he graduated from in 1969 and was the head golf coach from 1978-1987.
COACH KNIGHT'S COMMENTS: "We are very excited to be competing in the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational not only because it is our first chance to play at home in two years, but it's extremely exciting to have a quality tournament with the best teams and individuals in the nation being held on a tour-tested golf course like the Desert Inn. We are coming off a great streak, winning the two tournaments in Hawai'i, and now we have had a two-week break from golf. Our athletes have had midterms and have been getting caught up with school, so it will be interesting to see how we come off of that. It will definitely be exciting to be at home and competing against a top field like this one."
ASSISTANT COACH CASEY WHALEN: Casey Whalen, who is in his first season with the Rebel golf program, is responsible for academic advising, fund-raising and recruiting in addition to his golf coaching duties. Whalen came to UNLV after spending one season as assistant coach with the women's golf team at Texas. He is a 1994 graduate of Arizona State.
RESULTS: Results for the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational may be obtained by calling the Infoconnection Fax-on-Demand System. Infoconnection may be accessed by dialing (800) 300-2050 from the handset of your fax machine. Media members then need to enter their PIN. If you do not have a PIN, please contact Pivotal Communications at (770) 399-0096 and request one. The Western Athletic Conference passcode is 922 and the document number is 1927.
LAST OUTING: UNLV won the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,552-yard Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course in Kaneohe, Hawai'i, held Feb. 18-20.
NEXT OUTING: UNLV's next action will be March 23-24 at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas.
