March 7, 2007

LAS VEGAS - The No. 8 UNLV men's golf team will host the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship this weekend at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas (par 72, 7,510 yards).

The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days starting on Friday, March 9, with 18 holes played each day. Each round will begin at 8 a.m. PST. The low four scores each day will be counted each round for the team total. Team and individual ties will be broken by sudden death playoff.

UNLV will be attempting to win the event for the third consecutive season and will try to hold on to the individual crown for the second straight year. UNLV won the 2006 team title by 10 shots at 15-over 879 and won the 2005 crown by 15 shots at 9-under 855.

Rebel Matt Kinsinger won last year's individual title at 2-under 214 playing as an individual.

Recognized as one of the most competitive fields of the season each year, this year's group is made up of Arizona, Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV, Wake Forest and Washington.

Competing for UNLV's team in the tournament will be Jarred Texter, C.J. Gatto, Seung-Su Han, Sam Hunt and Brett Kanda.

Because the tournament is in Las Vegas, UNLV is able to have some of its other players compete as individuals. They will be Eddie Olson, Johnny Pinjuv, Matt Kinsinger, Brandon Loska, Blake Trimble and Ryan Keeney.

The tournament is open to the public and admission is free of charge.