The Rebels celebrated a clean sweep of the Mountain West titles Tuesday after winning a team playoff and seeing junior Zach Little earn the conference’s individual championship at the Catalina Course at Omni Tucson National Resort.
The Rebels earn their first team championship under fourth-year head coach Jean-Paul Hebert and sixth MW team title overall. Little’s individual victory also marks the storied program’s first sweep of both the individual and team league titles since 2018.
As a team, the Scarlet & Gray shot a final-round 12-under 276 to set a new program-record 54-hole score for a conference championship at 39-under 825. Additionally, Little’s final-round 8-under 64 gave him a new 54-hole program individual low for a conference tournament at 17-under 199, topping former Rebel golfer Shintaro Ban’s previous record of 16-under 200 in his 2018 win.
After ending stroke play tied with a surging No. 21 New Mexico, which shot a final-round 20-under 268, the Rebels showed poise to win the playoff on the 18th hole by two shots. Seniors Wyatt Plattner and Brett Sawaia each made par on their turns, before Little sank his putt for par to clinch the victory.
For the third time this week, all four UNLV scorers for the round recorded par-or-better scorecards. Lewis followed Little in the under-par category with a 4-under 68, while Sawaia and junior Mason Snyder each finished the three-day event with even-par 72 tallies.
Dropping in eagles on the day were Little on the par-5 15th hole and Snyder on the par-5 10th hole. That combined with the squad’s 20 total birdies in the round, including seven by Little.
Individually, every Rebel finished with par-or-better scorecards for the tournament. Lewis contributed another Rebel top-10 effort as he tied for eighth at 4-under 207. Adding another top-20 finish, Sawaia tied for 19th at 6-under 210. Rounding out the lineup, Plattner tied for 29th at 2-under 214 and Snyder tied for 39th at even-par 216.
“I’m really proud of our team, and really happy for the Rebel Golf Family. This victory says a lot about our players, and their competitiveness. Championships are never easy to win. Our guys are showing more and more patience, resilience, and commitment to what they are doing. It all came together this week in a very gritty win.