May 3, 2000

Box Score

PALM DESERT, Calif. - The No. 12 UNLV golf team captured its first conference title since 1996 on Wednesday, after blistering the course for a tournament-best 19-under par, a 23 stroke margin over second-place New Mexico at the Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championships.

Leading the charge was senior All-American Michael Kirk (70-70-69--209) who shot his third straight sub-par round on the PGA West Nicklaus Course to storm back and capture the individual title after sitting three strokes behind Colorado State's Nigel Spence (69-68-73--210) after round two.

Senior All-American Jeremy Anderson (70-71-71--212) was tabbed the MWC Player of the Year after turning in three straight sub-par rounds to take over the league lead in stroke average from BYU's Andy Miller (73-70-77--220). Anderson is ranked eighth in the country.

Kirk and Anderson were also honored on the All-Mountain West Conference team, along with CSU's Spence, BYU's Miller and Manuel Merizalde and San Diego State's Scott Piercy.

Piercy (71-68-72--211) finished in third place followed by Anderson and UNLV junior Scott Lander (68-72-72--212) tied for fourth place. Lander, who led the tourney after the opening round, shot back-to-back par rounds to finish fourth.

The Rebels' fourth scorer was freshman Calvin Kupeyan (72-73-70--215), who capped his tourney with a two-under par round Wednesday. Robert Sul (73-75-69--217) was the Rebels' fifth man, finishing eighth overall at one-over par.

The Rebels (280-286-279--845) led the tournament from start to finish after shooting a first-day best eight-under par. They followed with rounds of two-under and nine-under and were the only team in the league to finish under par.

UNLV looks to carry its hot streak into the NCAA West Regional Championships, set for May 18-20 at the River Bend Golf Club in Madera, Calif.