Sure, all UNLV fans wanted the whole team to be in the NCAA Las Vegas Golf Regional, but junior Caden Fioroni repped the Scarlet and Grey well individually at Bear’s Best Las Vegas. The city’s first regional competition was hosted by UNLV and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Despite seeing play delayed for the second consecutive day due to lightning, Fioroni matched his first round score to finish 57th with an even-par 216 through 54 holes.
The region’s top-seeded Arizona State won the team title, carding a 21-under in the third round to finish at 59-under 805 and edge runner-up Stanford (57) by two shots. Virginia’s Ben James and San Francisco’s Matthew Anderson were the event’s individual co-champions after posting matching scores of 20-under 196 for the tournament.
In a team playoff, East Tennessee State (-43) topped Northwestern (-43) by three shots to break a tie for fifth and qualify for the NCAA Championship. Similarly, Oklahoma State’s Jonas Baumgartner (-15) punched his ticket to the national championship via an individual playoff victory with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole. Northwestern’s Daniel Svard had a chance to extend the playoff against Baumgartner, but came up short as his birdie attempt lipped out.
The remaining teams to advance were Virginia (-49) in third and San Francisco (-45) in fourth.