March 8, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Many of the nation's top collegiate golf programs will showcase their talent this weekend at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, which will take place Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas (par 72, 7,510 yards).
The public is welcome to attend the tournament. Admission is free.
This prestigious event annually lures the country's best and each year ranks at or near the top of the collegiate golf schedule in terms of strength of field.
"This is always a great week for us," UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight said. "We are hosting the best of the best in the nation and that is what you want to play against as a competitor. The strength of the field is incredible and it is a great opportunity to play at home and see where we are at as a team. The golf course is set up at championship level, the greens are incredibly fast and placement of the ball is essential to being able to play aggressive golf."
The 2011 edition of the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters will feature 11 of the top-30 teams in the country, according to Golfstat. Participating teams include Arizona (78), Arizona State (29), Baylor (57), California (22), Duke (19), Georgia (13), Georgia Tech (5), Oklahoma State (2), TCU (45), Texas (12), Texas A&M (10), Texas Tech (16), UCLA (1), UNLV (47) and USC (25).
"Year after year, the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters gets ranked as the top field in the college golf - even over the national championship itself," said Knight. "That's quite a statement. The credit goes to Southern Highlands and the support that we have here in Las Vegas for the tournament."
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days, with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. each morning.
At last year's Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, UNLV was the co-team champion with UCLA, marking the third straight team championship at the event for the Rebels. The winning team score was 35-over 899. UNLV has won the team title at the event nine times over the last 16 years. Last year's medalist honors went to Arizona State's Jesper Kennegard, who shot 3-over 219 and won by a stroke.
UNLV's lineup this weekend will consist of junior Derek Ernst, sophomore Kevin Penner, freshman Blake Biddle, junior Colby Smith and senior Jeremiah Wooding. Playing as individuals for UNLV will be freshman Nicholas Maruri, freshman Max Kraemer and sophomore Arthur Kim. Last year, Smith was UNLV's top individual finisher at the event, finishing tied for 12th at 9-over. Wooding and Ernst also competed as part of the UNLV squad, finishing tied for 16th and tied for 29th, respectively, at 11- and 15-over. Penner also played (as an individual), finishing tied for 67th at 27-over.
Live scoring of the tournament will be available on the internet courtesy of Golfstat through a link at UNLVRebels.com.
