The victorious UNLV men's golf team
(UNLV photo)
TUCSON, AZ (February 26, 2018) - Led by senior
Shintaro Ban, UNLV posted three straight subpar rounds to win the National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Catalina Course.
How complete was UNLV's victory? All 15 rounds played by the five-man team for the 3-day tournament were under par. In each of the last two rounds, all five Rebels broke 70. Their three round total was 814, an astounding 50 under par.
Red numbers were everywhere at Tucson National. 11 teams and 40 players broke par for the tournament. The runners-up and tournament hosts, Arizona State, were 12 shots behind but still 38 under for 54 holes, sparked by
Chun An Yu's 63 in the first round.
Ban opened with a 68 and then added a 65 to pull into a tie with Yu after two rounds. On Monday, he made six birdies against a single bogey for a 67 and an 18-under 200 total, two shots ahead of Yu (69),
Ian Snyman of North Texas (67) and
Denzel Ieremia of Iowa State (68).
Ban's UNLV teammates
Garrick Higgo and
Jack Trent were 5th and 6th at 13 under and 12 under respectively.
Harry Hall and
Justin Kim shot 8-under 208 for the Rebels, tied for 12th.
In the team competition, Arizona finished third at -34 while North Texas and Iowa State rounded out the top five.
The win was UNLV's first on the season, coming after their previous best in their last tournament, the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii earlier this month.
Ban's performance so far this season--he has five top-5 finishes in 7 events--has put his name on the watch lists for the Ben Hogan Award, the Fred Haskins Award, and the Arnold Palmer Cup team.
ABOUT THE
National Invitational
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by the
University of Arizona. Team (best four scores of five
players each day) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information