After shooting a final-round even-par 280, the UNLV men’s golf team secured a second-place finish Saturday at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate hosted by Hawai’i at the Ocean Course at Hokuala. The finish has the team looking pretty good heading into the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate March 1-3 at the private Southern Highlands.
UNLV Head Coach John Paul-Hebert likes his team and the outlook for SOHI and the spring schedule.
“Every season is a new one in my mind. New team, new approach,” Hebert said. “But this year‘s group is growing more and more into themselves as players and people. The goal is very simple this year: prepare to play our best in every tournament, and play to win. And then let the chips fall where they may.
“I’ve told quite a few people that this is a good team of players that we have as well as people. I’m sure I say this every year, but this is the kind of team any coach would like to have. Talented, passionate, coachable, hard working, close knit. If you’ve met any of them, you know what I’m saying. Coach Spencer and I are very proud of the work they are doing.”
The Southern Highlands Collegiate features some of the top teams and players in the country and is free and open to the public. Visit UNLVRebels.com for more info.
REBEL ROUNDUP FOR JOHN BURNS: Junior Mason Snyder (68-67-69) finished third on a season-low to-par effort of 6-under 204 following his third straight day under par with a final-round 1-under 69. Also leaving with a par-or-better final tally, junior Zach Little (70-69-71) tied for 14th at even-par 210. The duo headlined a group of four Rebels in the top 25 as Trevor Lewis’ (+2) final-round 2-under 68 pushed him alongside senior Wyatt Plattner (+2) for a pair of tied-for-21st outings.
As a team, the Scarlet & Gray carded a season-low to-par score of 5-under 835 to earn its second consecutive top-3 finish of the spring as it tied with Texas A&M on the leaderboard. In so doing, the Rebels placed ahead of three teams ranked in the top 25 nationally entering the event, including No. 19 New Mexico in fourth, No. 23 Utah in sixth and No. 22 San Diego State in 10th.
Junior Ryan Abuan (+7) tied for 49th to round out the Rebel lineup and senior Billy Smith (+6) tied for 44th competing as an individual.
CHAMPIONS: Loyola Marymount pulled away with the team crown at 10-under 830 and individual medalist honors taken by Trevor Algya at 8-under 272 through 54 holes.
UP NEXT: UNLV will return to the mainland to prepare to host the Southern Highlands Collegiate from March 1-3 at Southern Highlands Golf Club.
NOTES:
Overall, the Rebels had six under-par individual rounds during the tournament, which was ahead of 17 other squads and second to only LMU. Joining Snyder’s three rounds in the 60s were Little, Plattner and Lewis each with one round under par.
This marked the second straight tournament that saw the Rebels finish ahead of at least three top-25 teams on the final leaderboard. They also achieved the feat at the spring-opening Southwestern Invitational.
UNLV tied for the lowest team score of the weekend at the Ocean Course at Hokuala with a second-round 6-under 274.
Snyder, Little and Plattner all posted their best individual finishes of the 2025-26 campaign on the island.