UNLV MEN S GOLF ROSTER

Transcription

1 UNLV MEN S GOLF UNLV Athletics Media Relations Maryland Parkway - Las Vegas - NV Contact: Andy Grossman - O: (702) C: (702) F: (702) andy.grossman@unlv.edu unlv Golf Quick Facts location... Las Vegas, NV FOUNDED ENROLLMENT... 29,000 NICKNAME... Rebels COLORS... Scarlet and Gray PRESIDENT... Dr. Neal Smatresk ATHLETICS DIRECTOR... Jim Livengood SR. ASSOC. AD/SWA... Lisa Kelleher CONFERENCE... Mountain West 2010 NCAA FINISH... T21st of NCAA (SAN DIEGO) REG. FINISH...T3rd of MWC FINISH... 3rd of TEAM TITLES INDIVIDUAL TITLES... 2 LETTERWINNERS RET./LOST... 4/3 HEAD COACH... Dwaine Knight ALMA MATER...New Mexico 69 YEARS AT UNLV... 24th year ASSISTANT COACH... JC Deacon ALMA MATER... UNLV 05 YEARS AT UNLV... 1st year GOLF OFFICE...(702) WEBSITE... HOME COURSE...Southern Highlands Golf Club PAR YARDAGE... 7,510 SIMPLY REB! Please always remember, UNLV (acronym on all references, please) is home to the REBEL golf team -- NOT the Runnin Rebels! Only the men s basketball team at UNLV uses the nickname Runnin Rebels. inside the rankings TEAM Golfstat Head-to-Head Standings... 36th (May 11) Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index... 44th (May 8) Golf World/NIKE Golf Coaches Poll... NR (May 18) INDIVIDUAL Golfstat... Derek Ernst, 59th (May 17) Golfstat...Kevin Penner, 92nd (May 17) Golfstat... Blake Biddle, 190th (May 17) Golfweek... Derek Ernst, 62nd (May 8) Golfweek...Kevin Penner, 90th (May 8) Golfweek... Blake Biddle, 171st (May 8) Wednesday, May 18, 2011 UNLV MEN S GOLF TEAM HEADS TO RECORD 23RD STRAIGHT NCAA REGIONAL UNLV earns sixth seed at San Diego Regional, play begins Thursday, May 19 at The Farms STORYLINE: The UNLV men s golf team will compete at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men s Golf San Diego Regional Championship, Thursday-Saturday, May 19-21, at The Farms Golf Club (par 72, 6,947 yards) in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The tournament is being hosted by the University of San Diego. This year s regional will mark UNLV s 23rd consecutive invitation to a NCAA Regional, which is the NCAA record for most consecutive regional appearances (Arizona State and Oklahoma State are the other two schools that have made 23 straight appearances). UNLV was awarded the sixth seed at this year s San Diego Regional, which is one of six 54-hole regional tournaments that will be conducted to determine the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals not on those qualifying teams who will advance to the finals. 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 at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship. UNLV is looking to qualify for its second consecutive trip to the championship finals and its 18th appearance at the event in the last 23 years. The 2011 NCAA Division I Men s Golf Championship will be held May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. (hosted by Oklahoma State). The NCAA Regionals will have live scoring on the internet, available through UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat. ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels have played in 12 tournaments this season, recording top-five finishes in eight of those. Although UNLV has not won a team title this season, it has turned in three second-place finishes: at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M., in October, at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif., in February, and at the PING Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah, in April. Two UNLV individuals have earned medalist honors this year: sophomore Kevin Penner at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate and junior Derek Ernst at the Mountain West Conference Championship earlier this month. Penner was named to the All-MWC team, Ernst was selected as the MWC Player of the Year for the UNLV MEN S GOLF ROSTER NAMe ht WT YR-EXP HOMETOWN / PREVIOUS SCHOOL Blake Biddle FR-HS St. Charles, Ill. / Wheaton Academy Derek Ernst JR-2L Clovis, Calif. / Clovis East HS Arthur Kim SO-TR Tigard, Ore. / Purdue Max Kraemer FR-RS Aldorf, Germany / Limes-Gymnasium Nicholas Maruri FR-HS Mexico City, Mexico / Gary Gilchrist Acad. (Montverde Acad.) Kevin Penner SO-1L Sammamish, Wash. / Eastlake HS Colby Smith JR-2L Auburn, Calif. / Colfax HS Jeremiah Wooding SR-RS-3L Riverside, Calif. / Riverside Poly HS HEAD COACH: Dwaine Knight, 24th year (New Mexico 69) ASSISTANT COACH: JC Deacon, 1st year (UNLV 05)

2 second straight season, and Blake Biddle was chosen as the league s Freshman of the Year. UNLV individuals this season have turned in a combined seven top-five finishes, with Ernst and Penner each recording three, and Biddle recording one. Ernst leads the team and is fifth in the MWC in stroke average with per round. Penner is second at 72.41, while Biddle is third at Ernst leads the team in rounds played with 38, followed by Biddle with 35 and Penner with 29. Ernst has recorded 19 rounds at par or better (13 under), while Penner has 12 at par or better (eight under), and Biddle also has 12 (five under). THE LINEUP: The Rebels five-man lineup for the NCAA s San Diego Regional will have four of the five student-athletes that played for UNLV in its third-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championship in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month. Participating this week for UNLV will be junior Derek Ernst, sophomore Kevin Penner, freshman Blake Biddle, junior Colby Smith and freshman Nicholas Maruri. Smith didn t play in the MWC Championship. The Rebels finished seven shots back at the MWC Championship, while Ernst, the league s two-time Player of the Year, earned medalist honors with a birdie on the third playoff hole to break a three-way tie. Penner finished tied for seventh, five shots back, Biddle tied for 17th and Maruri tied for 26th. HEAD COACH DWAINE KNIGHT: UNLV men s golf head coach Dwaine Knight is in his 24th year at the helm of the Rebel program. During his tenure, UNLV has been a perennial power with six league championships and 17 NCAA finals appearances. His 1998 squad won the national championship and he coached the team to 11 top-15 finishes. He has also tutored two individual national champions (Warren Schutte, 1991; Ryan Moore, 2004). Knight was the only mentor to twice claim GCAA National Coach of the Year honors in the 1990s (1991 and 1998) and he has produced an amazing 39 All-Americans, while guiding 10 different players to the PGA Tour from UNLV. THE FORMAT: The NCAA s San Diego Regional consists of 13 teams made up of five golfers each and another 10 golfers will play as individuals from teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Regionals. All 75 players will compete over 54-holes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with 18 holes each day beginning at 8 a.m. PDT on Thursday and Friday and 7:30 a.m. PDT on Saturday. The low four scores each round will count toward the team total. The top five teams and one individual not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championship finals, which will be held May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. (hosted by Oklahoma State). There are six total regionals, which is a new format - now in its third year. Three regionals have 13 teams and 10 individuals, while the other three regionals have 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams from each regional and top individual (from teams that don t advance) will make up the 30 teams and six individuals that will compete at the NCAA finals. THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL S FIELD: Seven of the 13 teams at the NCAA s San Diego Regional rank among the top 39 in the nation in the latest edition of the Golfstat Head-To-Head Standings and nine of the 13 teams are ranked in the top 50. The following is the field in order by seeding along with each team s Golfstat ranking in parenthesis: UCLA (2), Texas (11), USC (15), San Diego (23), Ohio State (26), UNLV (36), North Texas (39), Middle Tennessee (47), Tulsa (50), SMU (58), Pacific (90), San Francisco (84), Cleveland State (177). The 10 individuals competing in the field are: Nick Delio (Cal State Northridge), Donald Constable (Minnesota), Travis Ross (New Mexico), Scott Smith (Nevada, Reno), Erik Van Rooyan (Minnesota), Bhavik Patel (Fresno State), Glen Scher (UC Santa Barbara), Jerry He (UC Irvine), Rick Lamb (Santa Clara), Donald DeNyse (Siena). UNLV VS. THE FIELD: Head-to-head, the Rebels own a 6-9 record against the NCAA s San Diego Regional field this year. That record was assembled against seven of the 12 opponents bound for San Diego (in order of seed): UCLA (0-2), Texas (1-1), USC (2-1), San Diego (0-1), Tulsa (0-1), SMU (2-2), Pacific (1-1). UNLV has not faced Ohio State, North Texas, Middle Tennessee, San Francisco or Cleveland State this year on the golf course. UNLV S HISTORY AT THE NCAA REGIONAL: The Rebels earned their 23rd consecutive invitation to a NCAA Regional this year, which is tied for the NCAA record for most consecutive appearances all-time (with Arizona State and Oklahoma State - also ). Last year, UNLV finished tied for third (22-over 886) out of 13 teams at the San Diego Regional, which was played at Carlton Oaks Golf Club, to earn a spot at the national finals. UNLV has finished in top five at the regional 16 times, has four team titles (1990, 1994, 1997 and 2005) and boasts three individual medalists (Hub Goyen, 1990; Warren Schutte, 1991; Ed Fryatt, 1994). UNLV was led at last year s San Diego Regional by Eddie Olson, who tied for third at 1-under 215, two shots back of the medalist. UNLV S REGIONAL EXPERIENCE: Three of the five Rebels scheduled to play at this year s regional have previous NCAA Regional experience. Juniors Derek Ernst and Colby Smith have each played two NCAA Regionals, while Kevin Penner will be returning for his second regional. Ernst s best finish at a regional was last year when he tied for 33rd. Smith s best regional finish was also last year when he tied for 18th. Penner tied for 45th last year. Smith tied for 37th at the Austin Regional in 2009, while Ernst tied for 41st at that event. UNLV AT THE 2011 MWC CHAMPIONSHIP: Earlier this month, the Rebels finished third (2-over 854) out of nine teams at the Mountain West Conference Championship in Tucson, Ariz., finishing seven shots back of team champion San Diego State and five behind second-place TCU. Junior Derek Ernst earned medalist honors after breaking a three-way tie for first on the third playoff hole with a birdie. He became the fourth Rebel golfer to win the MWC Championship s individual title. Ernst shot 6-under 207 for the tournament. Sophomore Kevin Penner tied for seventh at 1-under 212, while freshman Blake Biddle tied for 17th at 3-over 216. Freshman Nicholas Maruri tied for 26th at 6-over 219 and sophomore Arthur Kim finished 45th. TWO-TIME MWC GOLFER OF THE YEAR: For the second straight year, UNLV junior Derek Ernst has been selected as the Mountain West Conference Men s Golfer of the Year. Ernst, a Clovis, Calif., native, is the first Rebel golfer to win back-to-back conference player of the year honors since Ryan Moore in and Ernst is the sixth UNLV men s golfer to earn his league s player of the year award and fourth to garner the MWC s top honor. Overall, the award has been given to UNLV golfers 11 times in the last 21 years. Ernst won the 2011 MWC men s golf individual title with a birdie on the third playoff hole to break a three-way tie. He is currently fifth in the league and tops on his team with a stroke average and has recorded 11 top-12 finishes this season, including three top-five performances. MWC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Blake Biddle was selected as the MWC Freshman of the Year. Biddle has posted a stroke average this year. He has six top-20 finishes and is the fifth UNLV golfer to win MWC Freshman of the Year. James Oh ( ), Ryan Moore ( ), Jarred Texter ( ) and Seung-Su Han ( ) are the others.

3 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: Two Rebels were named to the All-Mountain West Conference team. In addition to Ernst, who was also selected as the MWC Player of the Year for the second straight year, sophomore Kevin Penner was also on the all-conference team. Penner is second on the team in stroke average with He has turned in four top-10 finishes this year. REBELS LOOK TO GET BACK TO NCAA FINALS: With a top-five finish at the NCAA s San Diego Regional, UNLV would advance to the NCAA finals as a team for the second straight year and for the 18th time in 23 seasons. UNLV won it all at the NCAA finals in 1998 and finished second as a team in MEDIA: Results of the NCAA s San Diego Regional will be distributed to all regular UNLV media via following each day s competition. The tournament will also feature live scoring, available on UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat. A recap of each day s action will also be available at UNLVRebels.com.

4 UNLV MEN S GOLF SCORECARD - FALL SEASON - September September October October November 1-2 November SPRING SEASON - January 31 - February 1 February March March April 9-10 April May 5-7 May May 31-June 5 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational Eisenhower Golf Club s Blue Course Par 72, 7,363 yards (+13), Finished 5th out of 18 teams PING/Golfweek Preview Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla. Par 72, 7,403 yards (+64), Finished 12th out of 15 teams Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Old Overton Golf Club, Vestavia Hills, Ala. Par 70, 7,204 yards (+26), Finished 5th out of 12 teams Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate New Mexico State University Golf Course, Las Cruces, N.M. Par 71, 6,999 yards (+7), Finished 2th out of 15 teams Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Royal Oaks Country Club, Dallas, Texas Par 71, 7,068 yards (+4), Finished 8th out of 12 teams (Final round cancelled = weather) Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic El Paso Country Club, El Paso, Texas Par 71, 6,864 yards Individuals only (Ernst competed for UNLV - finished tied for 6th out of 31) Arizona Invitational Arizona National Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz. Par 71, 6,793 yards (+27), Finished tied for 5th out of 16 teams Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Classic Club, Palm Desert, Calif. Par 72, 7,305 yards (+20), Finished 2nd out of 20 teams Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters Southern Highlands Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nev. Par 72, 7,510 yards (+27), Finished 7th out of 15 teams National Invitational Tournament Omni Tucson National Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz. Par 72/70, 7,245/6,652 yards (+28), Finished 6th out of 15 teams ASU Thunderbird Invitational Karsten Golf Course, Tempe, Ariz. Par 71, 7,057 yards (+5), Finished 3rd out of 13 teams PING Cougar Classic Riverside Country Club, Provo, Utah Par 72, 7,152 yards (-13), Finished 2nd out of 18 teams Mountain West Conference Championship Omni Tucson National Resort, Tucson, Ariz. Par 71, 7,144 yards (+2), Finished 3rd out of 9 teams NCAA Regional The Farms Golf Club, San Diego, Calif. NCAA Championship Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla HEAD-TO-HEAD Air Force Air Force JV Alabama Arizona Arizona State Arkansas Auburn Augusta State Baylor Boise State BYU Cal Poly Cal State Northridge California Clemson Colorado Colorado-Colorado Springs Colorado State Denver Drake Duke Florida Florida State Fresno State Georgia Georgia State Georgia Tech Hartford Hawaii Idaho Illinois State Indiana Iowa Kansas Kent State Lamar Long Beach State Memphis Mississippi State Nebraska Nevada, Reno New Mexico New Mexico State Northern Colorado Northern Iowa Northwestern Oklahoma Oklahoma State Oregon Pacific Penn State Pepperdine Samford San Diego San Diego State San Jose State Santa Clara SMU South Alabama Southern Mississippi Southern Utah TCU Texas Texas A&M Texas State Texas Tech Texas-San Antonio Tulsa UAB UC Davis UC Irvine UC Riverside UC Santa Barbara UCLA USC Utah Utah State Utah Valley State UTEP Villanova Virginia Washington State Weber State Western New Mexico Wichita State Wyoming INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS NAME RDS STR AVG TOP-20 TOP-10 TOP-5 PAR SUB Derek Ernst (Jr.) Kevin Penner (So.) Blake Biddle (Fr.) Colby Smith (Jr.) Jeremiah Wooding (Sr.) Arthur Kim (So.) Less than 10 rounds played Karsten Majors (Fr.) Nicholas Maruri (Fr.) Max Kraemer (Fr.) TEAM TOTALS

5 INDIVIDUAL SCORECARDS BLAKE BIDDLE T53rd Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational T38th PING/Golfweek Preview T21st Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate T3rd Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate T29th Royal Oaks Intercollegiate T9th Arizona Invitational T7th Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate T33rd Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T23rd National Invitational Tournament T16th ASU Thunderbird Invitational th PING Cougar Classic T17th Mountain West Conf. Champ DEREK ERNST T12th Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational T58th PING/Golfweek Preview T10th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate T5th Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate T11th Royal Oaks Intercollegiate T6th College All-America Golf Classic T3rd Arizona Invitational T9th Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate T9th Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T26th National Invitational Tournament T12th ASU Thunderbird Invitational th PING Cougar Classic T1st Mountain West Conf. Champ ARTHUR KIM 68th Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T27th ASU Thunderbird Invitational T83rd PING Cougar Classic th Mountain West Conf. Champ KEVIN PENNER T21st Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational T21st PING/Golfweek Preview T28th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate T34th Arizona Invitational T1st Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate th Southern Highlands Coll. Masters WD XX T4th National Invitational Tournament T16th ASU Thunderbird Invitational T4th PING Cougar Classic T7th Mountain West Conf. Champ COLBY SMITH T29th Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational T68th PING/Golfweek Preview T18th Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate T52nd Royal Oaks Intercollegiate T55th Arizona Invitational T57th Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate T42nd Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T61st National Invitational Tournament T40th ASU Thunderbird Invitational T62nd PING Cougar Classic JEREMIAH WOODING T21st Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational nd PING/Golfweek Preview T26th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate T47th Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate T41st Royal Oaks Intercollegiate T51st Arizona Invitational T57th Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate T17th Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T84th National Invitational Tournament MAX KRAEMER T83rd Arizona Invitational th Southern Highlands Coll. Masters KARSTEN MAJORS T59th Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate T56th Royal Oaks Intercollegiate NICHOLAS MARURI T55th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate nd Southern Highlands Coll. Masters T26th Mountain West Conf. Champ

6 TOURNAMENT SCORECARDS GENE MIRANDA FALCON INVITATIONAL Eisenhower Golf Club (Blue Course), Colorado Springs, Colo., Sept Teams, 104 Individuals 5th UNLV (+13) T12th Derek Ernst (+1) T21st Jeremiah Wooding (+4) T21st Kevin Penner (+4) T29th Colby Smith (+6) T53rd Blake Biddle (+10) PING/GOLFWEEK PREVIEW Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla., Sept Teams, 75 Individuals 12th UNLV (+64) T21st Kevin Penner (+8) T38th Blake Biddle (+14) T58th Derek Ernst (+20) T68th Colby Smith (+28) 72nd Jeremiah Wooding (+32) JERRY PATE NATIONAL INTERCOLLEGIATE Old Overton Golf Club, Vestavia Hills, Ala., Oct Teams, 60 Individuals 5th UNLV (+26) T10th Derek Ernst (+2) T21st Blake Biddle (+7) T26th Jeremiah Wooding (+9) T28th Kevin Penner (+10) T55th Nicholas Maruri (+24) HERB WIMBERLY INTERCOLLEGIATE New Mexico State University Golf Course, Las Cruces, N.M., Oct Teams, 84 Individuals 2nd UNLV (+7) T3rd Blake Biddle (-3) T5th Derek Ernst (-2) T18th Colby Smith (+6) T47th Jeremiah Wooding (+12) T59th Karsten Majors (+15) ROYAL OAKS INTERCOLLEGIATE Royal Oaks Country Club, Dallas, Texas, Nov Teams, 72 Individuals 8th UNLV (+4) T11th Derek Ernst (-3) T29th Blake Biddle (+2) T41st Jeremiah Wooding (+5) T52nd Colby Smith (+7) T56th Karsten Majors (+8) ARIZONA INVITATIONAL Arizona National Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 31-Feb Teams, 93 Individuals T5th UNLV (+27) T3rd Derek Ernst (-2) T9th Blake Biddle (+4) T34th Kevin Penner (+10) T51st Jeremiah Wooding (+16) T55th Colby Smith (+18) T83rd Max Kraemer * (+27) WESTERN REFINING COLLEGE ALL-AMERICA GOLF CLASSIC El Paso Country Club, El Paso, Texas, Nov Individuals T6th Derek Ernst (-6) WYOMING DESERT INTERCOLLEGIATE Classic Club, Palm Desert, Calif., Feb Teams, 104 Individuals 2nd UNLV (+20) T1st Kevin Penner (-3) T7th Blake Biddle (+4) T9th Derek Ernst (+5) T57th Jeremiah Wooding (+16) T57th Colby Smith (+16) SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS COLLEGIATE MASTERS Southern Highlands Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nev., March Teams, 80 Individuals 7th UNLV (+27) T9th Derek Ernst (+3) T17th Jeremiah Wooding (+6) T33rd Blake Biddle (+9) T42nd Colby Smith (+11) 68th Arthur Kim * (+22) 72nd Nicholas Maruri * (+26) 75th Max Kraemer * (+37) 77th Kevin Penner WD XX NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT OMNI Tucson National Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz., March Teams, 95 Individuals 6th UNLV (+28) T4th Kevin Penner (-1) T23rd Blake Biddle (+8) T26th Derek Ernst (+9) T61st Colby Smith (+17) T84th Jeremiah Wooding (+24)

7 ASU THUNDERBIRD INVITATIONAL Karsten Golf Course, Tempe, Ariz., April Teams, 75 Individuals 3rd UNLV (+5) T12th Derek Ernst (E) T16th Blake Biddle (+2) T16th Kevin Penner (+2) T27th Arthur Kim (+4) T40th Colby Smith (+7) PING COUGAR CLASSIC Riverside Country Club, Provo, Utah, April Teams, 96 Individuals 2nd UNLV (-13) T4th Kevin Penner (-8) 7th Blake Biddle (-6) 9th Derek Ernst (-4) T62nd Colby Smith (+8) T83rd Arthur Kim (+13) MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP OMNI Tucson National Resort, Tucson, Ariz., May Teams, 45 Individuals 3rd UNLV (+2) T1st Derek Ernst (-6) T7th Kevin Penner (-1) T17th Blake Biddle (+3) T26th Nicholas Maruri (+6) 45th Arthur Kim (+37) * Competed as an individual TEAM, INDIVIDUAL MARKS ** Low Team 54 (to par) (-13), Cougar Classic Low Team 18 (to par) (-11), Rnd 2, MWC Champ. Low Ind 54 (to par) (-8), Penner, Cougar Classic Low Ind 18 (to par) (-7), Ernst, Rnd 2, MWC Champ. Best Team Finish...2nd, Cougar Classic...2nd, Wyoming Desert... 2nd, Wimberly Best Individual Finish... T1st, Ernst, MWC Champ.... T1st, Penner, Wyoming Desert ** Team tournaments only