May 15, 2008
Results
BREMERTON, Wash. - The No. 15 UNLV men's golf team shot an opening-round 13-over-par 301 and is tied for 11th place after the first day of play Thursday at the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Golf West Regional Championship, which is being played at the Olympic Course (par 72, 7,111 yards) at Gold Mountain Golf Club.
Oregon leads the field by two shots after firing an opening-round 1-over 289. USC, UCLA and Washington are all tied for second at 3-over. Pepperdine rounds out the top five at 4-over. The Rebels are 12 shots off the lead and are tied with Central Florida for the 11th spot.
Senior Matt Kinsinger led all Rebel players with a 1-over 73 during the first round and is in a 12-way tie for 19th place. Oregon's Joey Benedetti leads all individuals after shooting 3-under 69 on Thursday. Pepperdine's Eric Shriver is one shot back at 2-under, while five golfers are tied for third at 1-under.
Other Rebel players (first-round scores and places): junior Seung-Su Han (75, T49th), sophomore Brett Kanda (76, T64th), sophomore Eddie Olson (77, T82nd) and freshman Ji Moon (80, T120th).
Play at the 27-team, 54-hole tournament, which is being hosted by Washington, will continue on Friday with 18 holes and conclude on Saturday. Live stats are available through a link on UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat.com.
This year's regional marks UNLV's 20th consecutive appearance at an NCAA Regional. The low 10 teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from the regional to the championship finals, which will be held May 28-31 at The Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. (hosted by Purdue).
The Rebels are looking to qualify for their third trip to the NCAA Championship as a team over the last four years and their 17th appearance at the event in the last 20 years.
