May 13, 2003
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STORYLINE: The No. 10 UNLV men's golf team makes its 15th consecutive trip to the postseason this week when it heads to Auburn, Wash., to compete in the NCAA West Regional. Hosted by the University of Washington, the tournament will be played at Washington National Golf Club (Par 72, 7,183 Yards), from Thursday, May 15 to Saturday, May 17. The 54-hole event includes 18 holes daily, and the top 10 teams and two individuals not qualifying with a team will advance to the NCAA Championship, slated for May 27-30 in Stillwater, Okla.
ABOUT UNLV: UNLV earned the No. 2 seed at the Regional after compiling an impressive 112-30-2 head-to-head record this season. The Rebels peaked at No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, but have dropped to 10th in the latest rankings. They are led by sophomore All-American Ryan Moore, currently ranked 17th by Golfweek. UNLV finished worse than fourth in just two of its 10 tournaments this year.
THE FIELD: A total of 27 teams and six individuals received bids to compete in the West Regional. Of the field, 18 teams and 17 individuals rank in the top 50 of the latest Golfweek rankings. The University of Washington hosts (in order of seed): UCLA, UNLV, Arizona, Georgia, Arizona State, Washington, New Mexico, Southern California, Pepperdine, San Diego State, California, Fresno State, UC Irvine, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Texas-El Paso, Denver, Oregon, Austin Peay, Stanford, Oregon State, Old Dominion, Xavier, Oral Roberts, Navy, Central Connecticut State and Loyola. Earning individual invitations were Matt Hansen (Pacific), Brendan Steele (UC Riverside), Travis Bertoni (Cal Poly), Issac Weintraub (San Jose State), Pete Sisich (Cal State Northridge) and Graham DeLaet (Boise State).
THE LINEUP: UNLV's five-man lineup for the NCAA West Regional will be: senior Brien Davis, sophomores J.C. Deacon, Ryan Moore and Travis Whisman, and freshman Ryan Keeney.
HEAD COACH DWAINE KNIGHT: UNLV men's golf head coach Dwaine Knight is in his 16th year at the helm of the Rebel program. During his tenure, UNLV has been a perennial power with six league championships, 13 NCAA finals appearances and the 1998 national title. Last year's MWC Coach of the Year was the only mentor to twice claim GCAA National Coach of the Year honors in the 1990s (1991 and 1998). He has produced an amazing 30 All-Americans and guided five different players to the PGA Tour.
