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STORYLINE: The No. 8 UNLV men's golf team placed 10th out of 27 teams at the NCAA East Regional and has advanced to the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, which will be held May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Course (par 72, 7,630 yards) at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. This year's NCAA Championships will mark UNLV's 16th appearance at the event in the last 18 years and will mark the Rebels' second straight trip. UNLV did not advance to the NCAA finals as a team in 2001 or 2004. This trip to Sunriver marks the third of the season for UNLV as it played the course in September at the PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational (finished 4th of 15) and in April at the Mountain West Conference Championship (finished 3rd of 9). Ten teams from each regional advanced to this year's NCAA Championships, which features 30 of the nation's best teams. The 72-hole event will be played in four 18-hole rounds, with a single round played each day. The NCAA Championships will have live scoring on the internet available on UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat.
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels are currently ranked eighth nationally, according to the latest edition of the Golf Coaches Association of America poll. They are ranked ninth by Golfweek and 11th by Golfstat. UNLV has played in 11 tournaments this season and has finished in the top five in seven events, winning two team titles (William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. in September and Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship in Las Vegas in March). Two UNLV players have won individual titles this season (senior Andres Gonzales at the Tucker and sophomore Matt Kinsinger at the SHC) and a third tied for first and lost in a playoff (freshman Seung-Su Han at the University of Hawaii Fall Intercollegiate in November).
THE LINEUP: The Rebels' five-man lineup for the NCAA Championship will differ from its NCAA East Regional team. Rebel participants for the NCAA finals include senior Andres Gonzales, sophomores C.J. Gatto, Matt Kinsinger and Jarred Texter and freshman Seung-Su Han. Freshman Blake Trimble played in Gatto's place at the regional.
HEAD COACH Dwaine Knight: UNLV men's golf head coach Dwaine Knight is in his 19th year at the helm of the Rebel program. During his tenure, UNLV has been a perennial power with six league championships and 16 NCAA finals appearances. His 1998 squad won the national championship. He has also tutored two individual national champions (Warren Schutte, 1991; Ryan Moore, 2004). Knight was the only mentor to twice claim GCAA National Coach of the Year honors in the 1990s (1991 and 1998) and he has produced an amazing 34 All-Americans, while guiding eight different players to the PGA Tour from UNLV.
THE FORMAT: The championship tournament consists of 30 teams and the nation's top six individuals not on those teams. All 156 players will compete on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday while Saturday's final round is cut to the top 15 teams and top six individuals not on an advancing team.
THE FIELD: Always the most impressive field of the year, the NCAA Championships featureS 30 of the most talented teams in the country. 27 of the 30 teams at this year's NCAA Championships are ranked in the top 31 in the nation in the latest edition of the Golfstat/NCAA Division I Team Rankings (Head-to-Head Standings). The three others are ranked 41st, 57th and 82nd. The following is the field along with each team's Golfstat ranking in parenthesis: Georgia (1), Florida (2), Oklahoma State (3), Georgia Tech (4), Arizona State (5), UCLA (6), BYU (7), Texas A&M (8), Northwestern (9), North Carolina (10), UNLV (11), Clemson (12), Arizona (13), East Tennessee State (14), Duke (15), Minnesota (16), Wake Forest (17), Lamar (18), Washington (20), Texas Tech (21), Auburn (22), Charlotte (23), Coastal Carolina (25), Kentucky (26), North Carolina State (28), South Carolina (30), Oklahoma (31), Pepperdine (41), Nevada, Reno (57) and Loyola Marymount (82). Additionally, six individuals will compete in the field (the top two individuals from each regional not on teams that advanced to the NCAA Championships): Scott Stallings (Tennessee Tech), Brendon Wood (USC), Robert Streb (Kansas State), Randy Lowry (Texas), James Love (Denver) and Dustin Pimm (Utah).
UNLV VS. THE FIELD: Head-to-head, the Rebels own a 33-33-1 record against the NCAA Championships field this year. That record was assembled against 25 of the 29 opponents bound for Sunriver, while UNLV has not faced four of the schools in the field.
UNLV'S HISTORY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: This year marks UNLV's 16th appearance at the NCAA Championships. All 16 showings have come in the last 18 years. Last season, UNLV finished in a tie for eighth place at the NCAA Championships, which was held at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. This year is UNLV's second straight appearance as a team as it failed to qualify in 2001 and 2004. As a program, UNLV has won three men's golf national championships: one team title in 1998 and two individual championships (Ryan Moore in 2004 and Warren Schutte in 1991). In its 15 previous NCAA Championship appearances, UNLV has finished in the top 10 nine times. Aside from winning it all in 1998, UNLV's best finishes were second in 1996, fourth in 1992, sixth in 1999 and 2000, seventh in 1994 and eighth in 1991, 1993 and 2005.
UNLV AT THE 2006 NCAA EAST REGIONAL: This season marked UNLV's 18th consecutive invitation to an NCAA Regional, this year being the first that the Rebels didn't play in the West Region. Only twice in the 18 NCAA Regionals that UNLV has played in has it not advanced to the national finals (2001 and 2004). UNLV won the NCAA West Regional title in 2004, but just made the cut to the NCAA finals this year by finishing 10th out of 27 teams at the East Regional. UNLV was in second place heading into the final round, but shot a third-round 16-over-par 304 and hung on for the 10th and final spot out of the East. UNLV finished the regional at 20-over 884, 20 shots back of team champion Wake Forest. The Rebels were led individually at the NCAA East Regional by sophomore Jarred Texter, who tied for second at 4-under 212, one shot behind individual champion Kevin Chappell of UCLA. UNLV's next best finisher was freshman Seung-Su Han, who finished tied for 52nd at 8-over.
UNLV AT THE MWC CHAMPIONSHIP: In April, the Rebels finished third out of nine teams at the Mountain West Conference Championship in Sunriver, Ore. It marked the sixth straight year that the MWC Championship was held at Sunriver - the same course that the NCAA Championships are held this year. UNLV shot a 10-over-par 874, finishing nine shots behind team champion New Mexico. UNLV had two players in the top 10 as sophomores Matt Kinsinger and Jarred Texter each tied for sixth at 2-over 218. Senior Andres Gonzales finished tied for 12th at 3-over 219. The all-conference awards were handed out following the tournament and Gonzales, Texter and freshman Seung-Su Han were on all the all-conference team. Han was named MWC Freshman of the Year.
REBELS GET BACK TO NCAA FINALS: With a top-10 finish at the NCAA East Regional, UNLV has earmed a return trip to the NCAA finals. UNLV tied for eighth at last year's NCAA Championships. This will mark UNLV's 16th NCAA finals appearance. UNLV won it all in 1998 and finished second as a team in 1996, which was its top finish before 1998.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS EXPERIENCE: Two players on the Rebels' five-man lineup have previous NCAA Championships experience. The 2006 event will mark Andres Gonzales and Jarred Texter's second NCAA Championships. The 2005 NCAA finals were both player's first trip to the tournament with Gonzales tying for 42nd at 13-over 293 and Texter tying for 61st at 20-over 300. C.J. Gatto, Seung-Su Han and Matt Kinsinger are all making their first NCAA Championships appearance.
EARLIER THIS SEASON AT SUNRIVER: The NCAA Championships will mark UNLV's third trip to Sunriver this season. The Rebels played at the PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational, Sept. 26-28, and at the MWC Championships, April 27-29, which were both held at the same course that this year's NCAA Championships will be played. The Rebels finished fourth out of 15 teams at the Preview with a 3-over 867. UNLV's top finisher at the Preview was Seung-Su Han with a tie for 13th at 2-under 214. UNLV finished third out of nine teams at the MWC Championship with a 10-over 874. Matt Kinsinger and Jarred Texter led the Rebels at the MWC tourney as they both tied for 6th place at 2-over 218.
MEDIA: Results of the NCAA Championships will be distributed to all regular UNLV media via email following each day's competition. The tournament will also feature live scoring, available on UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat.
TELEVISION COVERAGE: There will not be full television coverage of the NCAA Championships this year. The Golf Channel will do a highlight show of the event each day, but there will be no live or delayed complete coverage.
FIRST AND SECOND ROUND TEE TIMES: UNLV will begin play on Wednesday, May 31 with its No. 5 player scheduled to tee off of the 10th tee at 2:17 p.m. PDT. The Rebels will play with East Tennessee State and Duke during the first round of play. UNLV will begin second-round play off the 1st tee on Thursday, June 1 at 9:05 a.m. PDT again with East Tennessee State and Duke.
HOGAN SEMIFINALIST: Senior Andres Gonzales was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 Ben Hogan Award. The most prestigious award in men's college golf, the Hogan is presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months. Former UNLV golfer Ryan Moore was last year's Hogan Award winner, which marked the first time a UNLV golfer was named the national player of the year.
APRIL SHOWERED: Senior Andres Gonzales was selected as the Mountain West Conference Men's Golfer of the Month for April. The Olympia, Wash., native paced then-No. 6 UNLV in both tournaments it competed in during the month of April prior to the MWC Championship. Gonzales tied for eighth with a 4-under 209 (71-68-70) at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., April 8-9 as the team finished second, one shot out of first place. He followed that performance with a tie for fifth at the Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah, April 14-15 with a 10-under 206 (68-70-68). The team finished fourth in that event. Gonzales' 10-under par score at the Cougar Classic tied him for UNLV's low individual tournament total to par for the season. For the month, Gonzales shot in the 60s in three of his six rounds (all three rounds were 68) and was at par or better in all six of his rounds (five at under par). He finished the month with a 69.17 scoring average.
HAN ALSO HONORED: Freshman Seung-Su Han and San Diego State senior Andrew Scott were named Co-Mountain West Conference Golfers of the Month for November. Han and Scott both finished in a four-way tie for first place with a 2-under 214 at the University of Hawaii Fall Intercollegiate in Kaneohe, Hawaii, Nov. 7-9. However, both players lost in a four-hole playoff to New Mexico State's Robert Goff, who claimed medalist honors. Han, a native of Incheon, South Korea, recorded the first top-10 finish of his career as he finished with rounds of 68, 75 and 71 for his 214 total. His first-round 68 was his then-season-low round.
