May 24, 2004
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STORYLINE: For only the second time in the last 16 years, the UNLV men's golf team failed to advance to the NCAA Championship after it finished 11th at the NCAA West Regional. However, the Rebels will be represented at nationals by junior Ryan Moore, who qualified as an individual after finishing third overall in the region. Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., is ranked No. 2 nationally in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. He will face a field of 156 participants at the NCAA Championship, which will be played at the Cascades Course at the Homestead Resort (Par 70, 6,679 Yards) in Hot Springs, Va., from June 1-4. Hosted by Virginia Tech University, the 72-hole event will be played in four 18-hole rounds, with a single round played each day from June 1-4. Practice rounds will be held on Sunday, May 30 and Monday, May 31. The tournament will feature live scoring, available on unlvrebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat.
THE FIELD: Always the most impressive field of the year, the NCAA Championship features 30 of the most talented teams in the country. Only two teams in the field rank outside the top 50, and all of the top 10 will compete. The NCAA and Virginia Tech host: #1 Florida, #2 Clemson, #3 Georgia, #4 Arizona State, #5 UCLA, #6 Georgia Tech, #7 Oklahoma State, #8 Arizona, #9 Texas, #10 TCU, #11 Southern California, #13 Oklahoma, #15 New Mexico, #17 Kentucky, #20 California, #22 BYU, #23 Washington, #26 Pepperdine, #28 North Carolina, #31 Georgia State, #32 SMU, #35 Toledo, #38 Texas A&M, #42 Auburn, #44 Wichita State, #45 Kent State, #49 Purdue, #50 Vanderbilt, #62 Penn State and #108 Rhode Island. Additionally, six individuals will compete: #1 Bill Haas (Wake Forest), #2 Ryan Moore (UNLV), #13 Jeff Overton (Indiana), #23 Aron Price (Georgia Southern), #28 Chris Baryla (UTEP) and #220 A.J. Elgert (Kansas State).
MEDIA: Results of the NCAA Championship will be distributed to all regular UNLV media following each day's competition. The tournament will also feature live scoring, available on unlvrebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat. For those members of the media wishing to cover the NCAA Championship in person, a credential request must be submitted to the Virginia Tech University media relations office.
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels are currently ranked 16th nationally, according to the latest edition of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. They finished the year with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA West Regional, missing a qualifying score by four strokes. Junior Ryan Moore, who has earned All-America honors twice, qualified as an individual and is presently ranked second nationally. He has won twice this season, including a victory at the MWC Championship. The Puyallup, Wash., native has finished in the top three in his last four tournaments.
HEAD COACH Dwaine Knight: UNLV men's golf head coach Dwaine Knight is in his 17th year at the helm of the Rebel program. During his tenure, UNLV has been a perennial power with six league championships, 14 NCAA finals appearances and the 1998 national title. The 2002 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 31 All-Americans and guided six different players to the PGA Tour at UNLV.
PAIRINGS & TEE TIMES: Playing as an individual, Ryan Moore will be paired with other individual qualifiers. He will play both practice rounds and the first two rounds of competition with Bill Haas of Wake Forest and A.J. Elgert of Kansas State. Pairings for the final two rounds will be determined based on leaderboard position. Moore's tee times are as follows:
Sunday, May 30 9:10 a.m. Practice RoundMonday, May 31 1:00 p.m. Practice RoundTuesday, June 1 1:48 p.m. Round 1Wednesday, June 2 8:48 a.m. Round 2Thursday, June 3 8:48 OR 1:48 Round 3Friday, June 4 8:48 OR 1:48 Round 4
MORE ON MOORE: Junior star Ryan Moore could possibly be the best player in college golf this year, and certainly one of the most heralded. The two-time All-American has a chance to join former Rebel and current PGA veteran Chris Riley as UNLV's only four-time male All-Americans. The Puyallup, Wash., native was a semifinalist for the Hogan Award, presented annually to the top collegiate player in men's golf and an award for which he was a finalist last year. At 21, Moore has already played in two PGA major championships -- the U.S. Open and The Masters. He was also selected to the U.S. Walker Cup team last year and has twice been chosen to the U.S. Palmer Cup squad. He has three collegiate victories, and two in his last three tournaments. He won the National Invitation Tournament in Tucson, Ariz., in late March and won the Mountain West Conference Championship at the end of April. His victory there paved the way for MWC Player of the Year honors. He has nine top-five finishes in 12 events this year. The two-time UNLV Olympic Sportsman of the Year is currently ranked second nationally. He was named the MWC Golfer of the Month for both March and April and leads the league with a 69.69 stroke average.
RECORD PACE: Ryan Moore is on pace to eclipse two school records for scoring average. Through 104 career rounds, the junior has a career scoring average of 71.32. Should that average hold, it would best the current school record of 72.01 held by Jeremy Anderson. Moore is also looking to top Anderson's single-season record for scoring average. Anderson finished the 1999-00 season with a 70.85 average. Moore is presently averaging 69.69 strokes per round.
MOORE IN THE POSTSEASON: Ryan Moore makes his third appearance at the NCAA Championship. The heralded junior has twice taken his team to the national finals. The Rebels finished 23rd overall in 2002 and climbed to 13th in 2003. Moore has had a little more success over that span. He rolled to an eighth-place showing as a freshman in 2002 and tied for 22nd overall last year.
MOORE AT THE CASCADES COURSE: Ryan Moore has just two competitive rounds at The Casecades Course at the Homestead Resort, both from the Preview last fall. Moore stumbled to an opening round of 77 before blistering the course for a six-under par 64. He tied for fifth overall and was just three strokes off the lead at the rain-shortened event. His 64 topped the next-best score shot in the tourney by three strokes.
UNLV AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: This year marks the first time in school history that UNLV has sent an individual to the NCAA Championship without sending the team. The Rebels have qualified as a team for the national finals 14 times, including both of the last two years, and have the 1998 national championship to their credit. Individually, Warren Schutte won the event in 1991.
INDIVIDUALS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: Since the NCAA began conducting a championship for Division I men's golf in 1939, seven times has in individual won without advancing with his team. However, it has not happened in the modern era since Arizona State's Jim Carter won the 1983 title without his team present. Here's a list of those players who won individual titles without their team:
YEAR PLAYER1983 Jim Carter, Arizona State1980 Jay Don Blake, Utah State1969 Bob Clark, Cal State Los Angeles1967 Hale Irwin, Colorado1963 R.H. Sikes, Arkansas1943 Wallace Ulrich, Carleton1939 Vincent D'Antoni, Tulane
