UNLV men’s golf team takes momentum into regionals
From putting in snow at Ohio State to capturing the Mountain West tournament at Tucson, Arizona, without its team leader, the 25th-ranked UNLV men’s golf team has proven it can win under any number of adverse situations.
The Rebels finished first, second, first and first in their past four tournaments, and now it’s on to the NCAA regional Monday through Wednesday at Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Rebels are the No. 5 seed in the 13-team field.
“That was a good little stretch for us,” coach Dwaine Knight said. “Going into the regionals, it definitely will really help us.”
UNLV is making an NCAA record 28th consecutive appearance in the regionals. The top five teams advance to the NCAA championships May 27 to June 1 in Eugene, Oregon.
The Rebels will have to get to Oregon without AJ McInerney available in the regional. The senior broke his jaw and nose and suffered bleeding on his brain when he fell April 16 trying to give his girlfriend a piggyback ride. But the Rebels still managed to go out eight days later and win their first Mountain West title in 14 years.
“It took our team leader away from us,” Knight said. “He’s improving, but I don’t know what the progress will be, but he can’t go this week. The guys really stepped up after that happened. You never know how a team’s going to react.”
UNLV also proved to be mentally tough by winning in the snow at Ohio State on April 9 and 10. Knight noticed Ohio State and Kent golfers took full swings on the greens, and he instructed his players to do the same when they lined up for putts.
“By the time it gets to the hole, it dead-stops,” Knight said. “There’s no momentum past the hole at all. It was something they had never experienced, but we ended up getting a win there. So that was another good step for us.”
TEACHABLE MOMENT
On the women’s side, UNLV also figured to be playing at this time. The Rebels, ranked 17th in one poll and 18th in another, made their 14th regional in a row but struggled when they got there.
UNLV, which like the men won the conference championship, finished 14th at Stanford and failed to advance to the NCAAs.
As disappointing as that ending was for the Rebels, their top four scorers are two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior.
“This season was a lot of learning and a lot of figuring out what it takes to play at the collegiate level,” coach Amy Bush-Herzer said. “The level of competition is completely different for them.
“One of the things I did before we ended up leaving Stanford was I went over and took a picture of the scoreboard so that we can reflect on that when we come back in the summer and make sure we’re all on the same page.”
With the talent that Bush-Herzer has coming back, she is hopeful of not only getting to the NCAAs next season, but challenging for the championship.
“Everybody’s returning, so I look forward to the future here,” Bush-Herman said.
FACING THEIR RIVALS
UNLV’s baseball team, which took two out of three games against Mountain West leader Fresno State over the weekend, concludes its regular season with a three-game series at UNR beginning Thursday. After that, the Rebels (23-28, 13-14 MW) will play in the Mountain West tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Barring an unexpected run to the conference tournament title, that will conclude the Rebels’ season.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65
