Las Vegas, Nevada (May 22, 2011)–Obviously, 12th isn't where the UNLV Men's Golf Team wanted to finish at the NCAA Regionals, but the silver lining as their top finisher was a freshman and a junior was in the top 10 until a rough final round. So the future is potentially bright for the team. UNLV won the NCAA championship in 1998. —By Brian Hurlburt.
The UNLV men’s golf team shot a final-round 17-over-par 305 on Saturday and finished in 12th place at the 2011 NCAA Men’s Golf San Diego Regional, which was played at The Farms Golf Club (par 72, 6,903 yards). UCLA shot 6-under 282 during the final round to capture the team title at 10-under 854. USC finished second at 7-under, San Diego was third at even par, Ohio State was fourth at 1-over and Texas rounded out the top five at 9-over. UNLV finished the 54-hole event with a three-round total of 33-over 897 and saw its season come to a close.
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UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay shot a final-round 5-under 67 and claimed individual medalist honors by six shots at 13-under 203 for the tournament. USC's Steve Lim and San Diego's Manav Shah tied for second at 7-under. UNLV freshman Blake Biddle tied for eighth to lead all Rebel individuals 1-under 215 after a final-round 72.
Other Rebel players: junior Derek Ernst shot 7-over 79 on Saturday to tie for 34th at 5-over 221, sophomore Kevin Penner shot a final-round 3-over 75 to also tie for 34th at 5-over, freshman Nicholas Maruri shot a final-round 8-over 80 to finish 71st at 25-over 241, and Colby Smith shot a final-round 7-over 79 to finish 73rd at 34-over 250.
The low five teams and low individual not on those teams advanced to the NCAA Championship finals. The individual from the San Diego Regional to move on was Middle Tennessee State's Jason Millard, who tied for fourth at 5-under. His team finished 10th. The 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship will be held May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. Report also from UNLV Sports Information release.