University of Nevada Athletics

Live Scoring 

RENO, Nev.   The University of Nevada men’s golf team heads to San Jose, Calif., next week looking to defend the program’s first Western Athletic Conference crown at the 2008 WAC Championship. San Jose State University will play host to the the nine-team tournament Monday-Wednesday, April 28-30 at the par 72, 6,853-yard Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose, Calif. The Wolf Pack won its first WAC Championship last year and looks to finish in the top five at the conference tournament for the sixth time in its eight years as a member of the league. Nevada has turned in six top 10 finishes in 13 events this year with its best outing a tie for third at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in October.

ABOUT THE 2008 WAC CHAMPIONSHIP: Teams will play 18 holes each day with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time. All nine league teams will compete at the 2008 WAC Championship, including Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai’i, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State.

First-round tee times and team pairings are predetermined, while tee times and pairings for the final two rounds will be determined by team total and individual total within each team. Nevada will tee off starting at 9 a.m. on Monday and will play with Idaho and New Mexico State in the first round. The top four scores from each five-person team will count toward the team score each round.

Live scoring for the WAC Championship will be available online at www.golfstat.com, while a recap of each day’s action will be posted at www.nevadawolfpack.com. More information about the championship can also be found on the WAC’s official web site at www.wacsports.com.

NEVADA’S LINEUP: Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Rich Merritt, Nevada’s lineup for the 2008 WAC Championship will include sophomore Taylor Coffman (San Diego, Calif.), sophomore Ryan Hallisey (Granite Bay, Calif.), senior Chase Cooper (Guymon, Okla.), redshirt freshman Scott Smith (Fallon, Nev.) and sophomore Jared Becher (Reno, Nev.).

2007-08 NEVADA SCORING AVERAGES

LAST YEAR AT THE WAC CHAMPIONSHIP: WAC Player and Freshman of the Year Taylor Coffman chipped out of the bunker and made a four-foot putt for par to clinch Nevada’s first Western Athletic Conference championship on May 2, 2007 at the par 72, 7,269-yard Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno.

Nevada shot an 18-over 306 in the final round but held on for a one-stroke victory over Hawai’i. The Wolf Pack came into the day with a 10-stroke lead but saw it vanish in the blustery conditions in the final round. After falling one stroke behind on the back nine between holes 10-12, Nevada regained the lead for good about two holes later and held on for the win with a three-round total of four-under 860 (278-276-306).

Coffman led the Wolf Pack with a tie for fifth place individually at two-under 214 (69-69-76), while Chase Cooper tied for eighth at even-par 216 (68-72-76). Matt Rippy finished in a tie for 12th at one-over 217 (72-67-78), while Ryan Hallisey ended up in a tie for 17th at two-over 218 (69-71-78). Rounding out the Wolf Pack lineup was James Haban who tied for 27th at seven-over 223 (78-69-76).

NEVADA’S WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY: The Wolf Pack has won a total of six conference championships in the history of its men’s golf program, including its first Western Athletic Conference title last year. Nevada has finished in the top five at the WAC Championship in five of its seven years as a member of the conference. The team also won West Coast Athletic Conference championships in 1977, 1978 and 1979 and captured a pair of Big Sky Conference titles in 1984 and 1986. Nevada has had four individual conference champions with Dave Nelson winning WCAC titles in 1977 and 1978, Mike Gilmartin capturing Big Sky individual medalist honors in 1985 and Steve Watson winning the Big Sky in 1986.

The Wolf Pack swept the WAC postseason honors in 2007 with Taylor Coffman being named the WAC Player and Freshman of the Year and head coach Rich Merritt selected as the WAC Coach of the Year. Coffman became the first member of the Wolf Pack to win WAC Player of the Year honors as well as the third to be named the top player in the team’s league and the first since Rich Barcelo was the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1998. Coffman and Matt Rippy earned spots on the All-WAC first team, while Ryan Hallisey was a second-team selection.

LAST TIME OUT: Nevada finished in 15th place at the U.S. Intercollegiate, held April 19-20 at the par 70, 6,835-yard Stanford Golf Course. The Wolf Pack shot a 16-over 296 in the final round to finish 15th with a three-round total of 64-over 904 (307-301-296).

Sophomore Taylor Coffman was Nevada’s top finisher, tying for 43rd with a three-round total of 14-over 224 (77-72-75). Redshirt freshman Scott Smith finished one stroke behind at 15-over 225 (75-77-73) and tied for 48th, while true freshman Chris Plappert ended up in a tie for 51st at 16-over 226 (74-75-77). Rounding out the Wolf Pack lineup were sophomore Ryan Hallisey (81-77-73=231) and senior Chase Cooper (82-79-75=236) who tied for 70th and finished 80th, respectively.

UP NEXT: The winner of the WAC Championship will receive an automatic berth to one of the three NCAA Regional sites, which will be held May 15-17. The NCAA Men’s Golf Committee will announce the field of 81 teams and 18 individuals for the three NCAA Regionals (27 teams and six individuals at each site) on Monday, May 5. The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga will host the East Regional at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn., Ohio State University will host the Central Regional at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, and the University of Washington will play host to the West Regional at the Golf Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

The top 10 teams and two individuals not on those teams at each regional site will earn an invitation to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships May 28-31. Purdue University will play host to the national tournament at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

Nevada has earned trips to the NCAA West Regional in each of the last two years (2006 & 2007) and last advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2006.