LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - After some morning frost slightly delayed the start of the 2022 Southern Highlands Collegiate Sunday at Southern Highlands Golf Club (par 72, 7,510 yards), it turned out to be a beautiful Las Vegas day for the opening round of UNLV's prestigious annual event. The Rebels shot a 6-under 282 as a team to sit tied for ninth in a field that features seven of the top 25 teams in the country, including No. 1 Oklahoma. UCLA and SMU joined the Rebels in ninth at 6-under.

Sophomore Ben Sawaia was the top Rebel performer of the round, tying for 11th after carding a 4-under 68. Fellow sophomore Caden Fioroni came in one shot behind Sawaia at 3-under 69 for a tie for 22nd, while individual competitors junior George Leigh and senior Jack Kozlowski each carded at 2-under 70 to sit tied for 29th. Freshman Aaron Jarvis was the fifth Rebel to finish under par, tying for 35th at 1-under 71. Senior David Rauch is tied for 63rd at 2-over, followed by senior J.J. Gresco in 77th at 4-over 76 and freshman Tommy Kimmel, who played as an individual, in a tie for 78th at 5-over 77.

The top-ranked Sooners used a stellar day to shoot to the top of the leaderboard at 20-under 268 with No. 5 Pepperdine in second at 15-under 273 and No. 24 Florida in third at 13-under 275. No. 12 Georgia Tech is in fourth after shooting a 12-under 276 and three teams - No. 9 Georgia, TCU, New Mexico - are tied for fifth at 8-under 280. Individually, Georgia Tech's Christo Lamprecht turned in a 7-under 65 to lead the field by on stroke over Oklahoma's Patrick Welch and Florida's Fred Biondi at 6-under 66. Seven golfers are tied for fourth at 5-under while 11 are tied for 11th at 4-under. 

UP NEXT: The second round will begin Monday morning with tee times starting at 9 a.m. PT. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com, or by clicking here. 

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-UNLV-