March 9, 2009
LAS VEGAS - Many of the nation's top collegiate golf programs will showcase their talent this weekend at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship, which is hosted by UNLV, the Las Vegas Founders and Southern Highlands Golf Club. The tournament will take place Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas.
The public is welcome to attend the tournament. Admission is free.
This prestigious event annually lures the country's best to compete in the desert. In fact, from 2004-06, the event was ranked as the No. 1 tournament in all of collegiate golf in strength of schedule by Golfweek.
The 2009 version of the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship will feature six of the top-10 teams in the country, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Poll, including 11 of the top 25.
Participating teams include Arizona, No. 8 Arizona State, Auburn, No. 22 California, Charlotte, No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 Florida, No. 1 Georgia, No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Texas, No. 25 Texas A&M, No. 21 UCLA, UNLV (No. 21 in the coaches' poll) and No. 2 USC.
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days, with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. each morning.
Last year's tournament was won by host UNLV with a 5-over-par score of 869. It marked the seventh time that UNLV has won the event in the last 14 years. Medalist honors were captured by USC's Rory Hie, Georgia's Hudson Swafford and Charlotte's Jonas Enander. Hie won the three-way playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole.
UNLV's lineup will consist of Eddie Olson, Brett Kanda, Derek Ernst, Ji Moon and Colby Smith, while Rebel teammates Jeremiah Wooding and Johnny Pinjuv will be playing as individuals.
On Thursday, March 12, a practice round will be conducted beginning at 9 a.m. After the teams eat lunch, a skills competition will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Three competitions will take place: short-iron (90-95 yards), long-iron (200 yards) and long-drive. Each school will designate one team member to hit two shots within each category. A winner will be decided through a point system.
