Las Vegas, Nevada (February 22, 2012)–Cascata is a Las Vegas resort course that has earned 29 out of 30 stars in a ZAGAT survey. It is a haven for big Las Vegas events, Tour players, and celebrites. But this week it was the host course of the UNLV Women's Golf Spring Invitational that brought some of the best women college golfers to Las Vegas. UNLV finished second in the event, the first time it was held at Cascata. –By Brian Hurlburt, and UNLV Sports Information.
The event marked the first tournament of the spring season for UNLV. Arizona entered the final round three strokes ahead of host UNLV and turned in a 1-over par round of 289 to finish at +8 (872) for the two-day event, 19 shots ahead of the Rebels. UNLV (+27, 891) beat out fellow Mountain West foes San Diego State (+41, 905) and New Mexico (+45, 909) who took third and fourth respectively while Louisville (+54, 918) rounded out the top five.
Want to play Cascata like the best in college golf? Click now to view the official Cascata website for this Las Vegas golf course. You can reserve your online Las Vegas golf tee times and view the awards earned by the course and the photos that show off its beauty. Cascata was designed by the U.S. Open Doctor, Rees Jones.
Three Rebel players posted top-10 finishes, including two in the top five, led by Dana Finkelstein’s 4-over 220 which was good for third. The freshman carded one birdie in a final round 74 to mark the highest tournament finish of her career. Fellow freshman Mayko Chwen Wang finished two strokes back from Finkelstein in a three-way tie for fifth place after a final round 76, marking her first-career top-10 finish.
Sophomore Katerina Prorokova finished tied for eighth after a 4-over 76 in the final round to earn her first top-10 finish of the season.Junior transfer Charlotte Brooks overcame a string of three consecutive double bogies to bounce back and play the final 13 holes at just 1-over par, carding a 7-over 79 in the final round to finish tied for 16th. The finish marks Brooks’ second straight top-20 tournament finish as she tied for sixth in the fall finale at the Betsy Rawls Invitational.
Senior Bethany Calvo finished with four birdies over the final 12 holes to card a 3-over 75 and tie for 14th as an individual. Freshman Marguerite Swearingen turned in the low round of the day by a Rebel golfer with an even par 72 led by a string of four birdies in five holes to move up 18 spots on the day and finish tied for 26th. The Rebels will be back in action March 5-7 at the Bruin/Wave Invitational in Valencia, Calif.