Page 44 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Summer 2018

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Rebel Greatness
important. I have a lot more variety of types of shots I can hit and I am Bush-Herzer's selection as the conference's coach of the year is
more prepared for any situation.” the fifth all-time for UNLV, with former head coach Missy Ringler
earning the first two in 2003-04 and 2005-06. Bush-Herzer took over
UNLV Hall of Fame Head Coach Dwaine Knight believes what Ban the program prior to the 2010-11 season after spending three years as
is doing is extra special and sometimes can’t believe the shots he pulls an assistant under Ringler. She has led the Rebels to four conference
off during a round. championships in eight years at the helm, while she has mentored
six freshman of the year recipients, three players of the year and two
“He’s got a lot of control over his game,” Knight told the Las Vegas All-Americans. As a team, the Rebels had the top scoring average in
Sun. “He’s got great touch, and he’s got great control of the golf ball the MW this season at 295.55 and was the only conference team to win
right now. He’s a really creative mind, and that’s unique for an athlete. more than one tournament this year.
He sees things people don’t see. He’s one of the best I’ve seen around
the green, and it’s because he has such a creative insight to his game.” Mack, from Berlin, Germany, ranked second in the Mountain West
with a 73.64 scoring average in 33 rounds played this year and a 1.73
scoring average against par. She was also the only freshman to have a
UNLV Men, Women Dominate scoring average rank in the top 14 in the league. Mack recorded two
Mountain West top-five, four top-10 and six top-15 finishes in 11 tournaments during
the 2017-18 season. She carded eight rounds of par or better, with four
rounds under 70. Her season-low of 67 came in the first round of the
The UNLV men’s and women’s golf teams each have won three Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown on October 22, where she went on to
Mountain West Conference championships in a row and combined, the finish tied for fourth with her best three-round score of the season at
nationally-ranked programs have made the NCAA Regionals 46 times 5-under 211. Her second-best 54-hole score of 2-under 214 resulted in
in a row. Both stunning streaks, indeed. her second top-five finish at the Jackrabbit Invitational in March. Most
recently, she shot at 4-over 220 to tie for eighth at the MW Champion-
The men made it 30-straight years in 2018 and the ladies streak ship. Mack's first-team honor is the 24th overall for the program, while
increased to 16 in 2018, before they finished ninth, ending their season. she is the 15th Rebel to garner at least one first-team selection.
The men qualified for the NCAA finals with a third-place finish at the
NCAA Columbus regional. It marked their 21st appearance in the For the Men, Ban earned the second-straight golfer of the year honor
finals in the last 30 years. They finished in the final eight in 2017. The following Oda’s honor last season.
men finished 19th at the NCAA Finals in 2018 with Ban and Justin
Kim finished 21st individually. UNLV’s Jack Trent earned the league's Freshman of the Year award,
becoming the second Rebel to do so in the last three years (Harry Hall),
UNLV women's golf swept the 2017-18 Mountain West honors as and the third in four seasons, while Ban, Trent, junior Harry Hall and
freshman Polly Mack was named both the MW Player and Freshman of freshman Garrick Higgo were named All-Mountain West. This year
the Year and Amy Bush-Herzer was tabbed the MW Coach of the Year. marks the third straight that both Ban and Hall have earned all-confer-
ence honors.
Joining Mack was junior Elizabeth Prior and sophomore Nastasia
Kossacky, who each were named second-team honorees. In July, Hall and Ban will play for their respective teams in the presti-
gious Palmer Cup—Ban for the United States and Hall for Europe. It is
"This is so big—I'm thrilled for these three," Bush-Herzer says. "For the second-straight year Hall will play in the event.
Polly to come here from Germany and adjust to the college game so
well was really impressive. She's so consistent and levelheaded. I look “Las Vegas is one of the world's finest destinations for golf, so it's
forward to seeing what she does throughout the rest of her career. Liz- fitting that UNLV has golf programs that represent the best in our com-
zie [Elizabeth Prior] had to overcome some early season adversity that munity,” UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois said. “Both
kept her out at the beginning and she bounced back from that. I saw a our men's and women's teams have demonstrated consistent success
lot of growth in Nastasia's game this year, so I'm proud of her. I'm just at a very high level and we have two head coaches in Dwaine Knight
really proud of my entire team, we push each other to be better every and Amy Bush-Herzer who both care passionately about UNLV and
single day." Las Vegas and are committed to developing our student-athletes into
champions.”
Mack earned the program's eighth player of the year award, while
she became the eighth Rebel to be named the freshman of the year. This
is also just the fourth time in Mountain West history the same player
has swept both categories and the third time the same school has swept
all three major honors.

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