UNLV seeded fourth for NCAA men’s golf regional at Ohio State
There is familiarity with the course, the opponents and the situation.
And now a hot UNLV men’s golf team hopes all that knowledge pays off as the No. 20 Rebels prepare for the postseason.
They are coming off their third successive Mountain West championship and will enter the 13-team regional in Columbus, Ohio, as the No. 4 seed. This is the Rebels’ 30th consecutive regional appearance, an NCAA record, and coach Dwaine Knight has been there for all of them.
The regional is May 14 to 16, and the top five teams advance to the NCAA Championship nine days later at Oklahoma State.
UNLV has had success on the Ohio State University Scarlet Course, having won two years ago on the 6,664-yard layout.
“We know a lot about it,” Knight said. “It’s a great golf course that plays hard. There are going to be some really good teams back there. If we play our game, it should play right into our comfort zone.”
Returning to Ohio State is a special memory for Rebels senior Shintaro Ban, this season’s Mountain West Player of the Year. He claimed his first individual title in that tournament two years ago, finding a way to win after four playoff holes in falling snow.
“Ohio State is a really tough course,” Ban said. “It’s really long. I think when it comes to tougher courses, for our team, we do a really good job, so I’m looking forward to it.”
UNLV goes against a tough field, with top-ranked Oklahoma State, No. 12 Illinois and No. 14 Texas Tech the teams seeded ahead of the Rebels.
But the Rebels had success against those opponents, finishing ahead of Oklahoma State at a tournament at Arizona State, and ahead of Illinois and one shot behind Texas Tech at the Southern Highlands Collegiate.
So the Rebels know they can compete with those teams.
“It’s awesome knowing that we can be one of the top dogs and we can be in contention for winning nationals,” Ban said. “I think especially this semester, our team’s chemistry definitely built up to be stronger. The stronger the teams we are with, I think each tournament we feel more comfortable.”
UNLV enters the regional with three tournament victories since Feb. 26. Ban’s Mountain West championship gave him his fourth individual title this season and set three conference tournament records, including shooting 16 under.
This is similar to a year ago when the Rebels were coming off a conference championship and getting ready to head to the Midwest. They won the regional at Purdue’s course, then carried the momentum into the NCAAs.
UNLV made a strong run at a second national championship, but fell a shot short from making the final four.
“We were that close,” Knight said. “I think we’re comfortable no matter where we’re sent. Our goal is to try to get another national championship, and I like this team. I like its energy. We’re doing things well off the course and school as well as on the course. It’s nice to have that capability and that consistency of a group, and we tend to have it with this group.”
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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
