Page 56 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Magazine Winter 2020
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Knight says. “I really thought we were
going to get him. It came down to the
last night, and it was between us and
Stanford. He had over 100 scholarship
offers, and it came down to two.”
While he may not have landed Woods,
the program has still had its share of
success. Knight and the Rebels had a
magical season in 1997-1998 when the
Rebels won the NCAA national cham-
pionship. Chris Berry, Bill Lunde,
Charley Hoffman, Jeremy Anderson,
and Scott Lander were the five play-
ing members on the team. Also on
the squad were Daron Dorsey, Scott A Wide World of Talent
Winfield, and Christian Thornley.
The UNLV coaches also roam Las Vegas fairways for golf talent. The latest
While they aren’t exactly household Las Vegas residents to be on the UNLV golf rosters are two women. Veronica
names in professional golf—with the Joels, a sophomore, and Aliyah Williams, a freshman, have taken their golf
exception of Hoffman—the coach talents from high school in Las Vegas onto the college scene, also in Las
Vegas. They aren’t the first and they certainly won’t be the last.
said this team was certainly special,
at the very least for one impressive Those two locals, along with Ben Sawaia, who will be on the men’s team
season. It was a season that Knight in the near future, and Gracie Olkowski, who will be on the women’s team
hopes current and future Rebels will shortly, show that the Rebels’ coaches always have their eyes on the Vegas
talents around the more than 50 courses in the area.
take note of.
“With players like Veronica, it’s the fact that she wanted to stay at home and
“Our goal is to always try and bring in play,” says women’s coach Amy Bush-Herzer. “With us having two home
the very best players we can,” Knight matches a year, the local girls have an advantage in they have played most of
says. “Hopefully, we get the best play- these courses and can share their knowledge with the other girls.”
ers from Nevada, but some want to go There have been others who have shone brightly. Recently, the men’s
out of state. There are a lot of choices team had local talent AJ McInerney, Ben Davis, Zane Thomas and Taylor
out there.” The coaches also have Montgomery as members of the same team in the 2015-2016 season.
plenty of choices. That’s the one factor Another Las Vegan, Alex Kaui, honed her skills on the women’s roster for
that has grown in leaps and bounds two seasons ending in 2017.
since Knight arrived at UNLV. “I was “It’s a worldwide game now,” says men’s coach Dwaine Knight. “When I first
recruiting Warren Schutte to go to came to UNLV we were looking for kids in the Las Vegas area and Southern
New Mexico when I was there right California. Those seemed like good fits for us.” But now with UNLV men and
before I got the UNLV job,” Knight women graduates taking part in tours around the globe, Knight and Bush-
says. “He was from South Africa and Herzer have a built-in recruiting support staff.
was the first foreign player I had “I’ll get calls from former players telling me to keep a lookout for this kid or
that kid they’ve seen play somewhere along the line,” Knight says. “You just
never know where that next good player might be from.”
54 LAS VEGAS GOLF & LEISURE WINTER 2020 www.lasvegasgolfandleisure.com
