REBELS HEADED TO NCAA-RECORD 26TH STRAIGHT REGIONAL
UNLV’s men’s golf earns No. 5 seed in Sugar Grove, Ill., play begins May 15
The UNLV men’s golf team will be the No. 5 seed at the NCAA’s Sugar Grove Regional, which will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., beginning Thursday, May 15, the NCAA announced Monday. The invitation marks UNLV’s 26th straight appearance in a NCAA Regional, which is the NCAA record for most consecutive appearances.
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 15-17. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals, while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals to make up the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals not on those teams that will compete for the NCAA title.
The other five regional sites are Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala., The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo., Lonnie Poole Golf Club in Raleigh, N.C., Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore., and Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio. The 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship finals will be conducted May 23-28 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. Wichita State is the host institution for this year’s championship.
In its last outing, UNLV finished third (five shots back) at the Mountain West Championship, which was played April 25-27 in Tucson, Ariz. Rebel junior Carl Jonson finished just one shot back individually (third place), missing an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that would have sent him to the playoff. UNLV junior Nicholas Maruri also finished in the top 10, while sophomore Zane Thomas, sophomore AJ McInerney and junior Kurt Kitayama all finished in the top 20. Jonson, Kitayama and Thomas were selected to the 2013-14 All-Mountain West team.
UNLV, which is ranked No. 28 in the country by both Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin, has competed in 11 tournaments this season and has recorded seven top-four showings, including three team victories.
The Rebels finished fourth at last year’s Columbus Regional to advance to the NCAA finals where they tied for sixth at the end of stroke play, and advanced to the Elite Eight before being eliminated by Georgia Tech in a match that went to a sudden-death playoff. Jonson, McInerney and Kitayama all have NCAA Regional experience with Jonson and Kitayama each playing in two previous regionals, while McInerney has played in one. Jonson owns the top individual finish of the group with a tie for seventh last year in Columbus.
Listed below are the teams and individuals selected to participate in the Sugar Grove Regional. Teams winning automatic qualification are designated by their conferences in parenthesis. The entire field for the NCAA Regionals may be found on the NCAA’s website or by clicking here. An information page on the Sugar Grove Regional may be found here.
SUGAR GROVE REGIONAL – May 15-17
Rich Harvest Farms – Sugar Grove, Ill.
Hosted by Northern Illinois
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Cal
2. Illinois
3. USC
4. Alabama-Birmingham
5. UNLV
6. Clemson
7. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
8. Purdue
9. Mississippi State
10. Cal State Fullerton (Big West Conference)
11. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference)
12. Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference)
13. Cleveland State (Horizon League)
14. Saint Peter’s (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Individuals:
1. Niall Platt, Notre Dame
2. Chris O’Neill, Michigan
3. Danny Pizetoski, Richmond
4. Juan Veloza, Towson
5. Rob van de Vin, IUPUI