March 9, 2008
Results
LAS VEGAS - The No. 22 UNLV men's golf team tied for the lowest final-round score on Sunday at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship with a 5-over 293 and won the team title with a 54-hole total of 5-over 869. The tournament was hosted by the Rebels, the Las Vegas Founders and Southern Highlands Golf Club (par 72, 7510).
Click Here To Watch A Report On The UNLV Men's Golf Team
The Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship win for UNLV marks its second team title of the season (also the Shoot-out at Angel Park in September - in Las Vegas) and sixth straight top-five finish. It was also UNLV's third time in the last four years winning the Southern Highlands event and seventh time in the last 14 years.
The Rebels recorded a two-shot victory over Charlotte, which finished the tournament at 7-over 871 after also firing a 5-over 293 during the final round. Georgia, which led the tournament heading into the final round, shot a final-round 10-over 298 and finished three shots back at 8-over 872. USC finished fourth at 14-over, while UCLA rounded out the top five at 17-over.
"One of the things that I am most proud of with our team is in our last five tournaments, we have been in the final group with a chance to win heading into the final round," said UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight. "This one we were able to capture and it is very sweet. I am proud of the guys for putting themselves in that position. If you keep getting to that position, you are going to knock down that door and we did that today.
"This is a big win because of the quality of the field. It was a NCAA Championship-caliber field, which made the win that much more special. Regardless of the outcome, I knew going into today we would learn a lot playing with the No. 1 team in the country in Georgia and No. 3 Charlotte. Our guys now understand that sometimes you don't have to play your very best to win, but you do have to gut it out, which is what we did."
The Rebels were led by junior Seung-Su Han, who finished at 1-over 217 for the tournament to tie for 10th place individually. He shot a final-round 4-over 76. Charlotte's Jonas Enander Hedin, USC's Rory Hie and Georgia's Hudson Swafford all tied for first at 3-under 213. Hedin and Hie both shot final-round 1-over 73s, while Swafford shot 5-over 77 on Sunday. The three-way playoff consisted of replaying the 18th hole, which Hie birdied to win the individual title. Three golfers tied for fourth at 2-under for the tournament.
Other UNLV team-counting final-round scores, totals and places: sophomore Brett Kanda (71, 4-over 220, T15th), sophomore Eddie Olson (76, 4-over 220, T15th), senior Matt Kinsinger (79, 5-over 221, T18th) and freshman Ji Moon (70, 11-over 227, T43rd).
UNLV players playing as individuals, final-round scores and places: senior C.J. Gatto (74, 11-over 227, T43rd), senior Brandon Loska (78, 11-over 227, T43rd), senior Jarred Texter (78, 19-over 235, T63rd), freshman Jeremiah Wooding (87, 20-over 236, 66th) and sophomore Johnny Pinjuv (80, 35-over 251, 79th).
The tournament featured seven of the top-10 teams in the country, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Poll, as well as six of the top-10 individuals. Additionally, the event had 14 of the nation's top-30 collegiate players and four U.S. Walker Cup team members.
UNLV will be back in action March 23-25, at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.
