March 8, 2000
LAS VEGAS - The ninth-ranked UNLV men's golf team will enjoy its only home action of the season this weekend at the Third Annual Las Vegas Intercollegiate hosted by the Desert Inn & County Club.
Formerly known as the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational, this year's tournament includes a sparkling field with all 14 teams having earned a spot in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, including four of the nation's top five teams and 11 of the top 25. Five individuals, including three additional Rebels also will be competing Friday through Sunday.
The field boasts six of the nation's top-10 players according to the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings: Matt Kuchar, Georgia Tech (No. 2), Lucas Glover, Clemson (No. 3), Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech (No. 4), Nick Cassini, Georgia (No. 8) Jeremy Anderson, UNLV (No. 9), Charles Howell, Oklahoma State (No. 10).
The event will be managed by the Las Vegas Founders, a group that also annually operates the PGA's Las Vegas Invitational and Senior PGA's Las Vegas Senior Classic.
UNLV won last year's tournament with a four-shot win over Georgia while Texas' David Gossett won individual medalist honors in a playoff with Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech. Virginia won the inaugural event in 1998 led by individual champion James Driscoll.
"We are excited about being part of such a tremendous field," UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight said. "We'll have the best teams and some of the best amateur players around coming to town. We look forward to playing on a great course that we know very well."
UNLV rose three spots and returned to No. 9 in the latest edition of the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, which were released by the College Golf Foundation Wednesday.
Individually, UNLV's Jeremy Anderson slipped three spots to No. 9 and Michael Kirk dropped four spots to No. 33.
LAS VEGAS INTERCOLLEGIATE QUICK FACTSDATES: March 10-12, 2000ROUNDS: ThreeHOLES: 54TEE TIMES: 7:30 a.m. to 9:06 a.m. PST DailyPRACTICE ROUND: Thursday, March 9COURSE: Desert Inn Country ClubPAR: 72YARDAGE: 7,193 yards1999 TEAM CHAMPION: UNLV (282-276-274-832) 1sf of 15 Teams'99 INDIVIDUAL CHAMP: David Gossett, Texas (67-72-69-208) in a playoff2000 FIELD: (In order of MasterCard Collegiate Golf Ranking as of 3/8/00)No. 1 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Arizona State,No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 9 UNLV,No. 12 Houston, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 17 Florida,No. 18 New Mexico, No. 23 Virginia, No. 28 Texas,No. 39 North Carolina and No. 45 Minnesota.Individuals: 3 UNLV, 1 New Mexico and 1 South Carolina
