UNLV golfer had plenty of help in winning Nevada State Amateur

To listen to Ben Sawaia talk, it sounds as if everyone involved with the UNLV men’s golf program played a part in his victory over the weekend at the Nevada State Amateur.

He credits coach Jean-Paul Hebert and assistant coach AJ McInerney. He lauds Caden Fioroni and his other teammates. He acknowledges his younger brother and teammate Brett for years of competition. And he thanks the program as a whole for helping him become not only a better player, but a better person.

The Rebels may have been assisting, but it was Sawaia who hit the shots over three days at the Club at ArrowCreek in Reno, shots that added up to 12-under 204 and a one-stroke win over Hunter Swanson.

“It’s so exciting and fulfilling to get my name on that trophy, with all the history and great players that have won it before me,” Sawaia said shortly after sealing the tournament Saturday afternoon. “It just feels amazing.”

Sawaia won the title thanks to a fast start Thursday with the low round of the tournament (66), one he matched in a final round Saturday that featured six birdies and no bogeys. That’s where the advice of Hebert and McInerney made a big difference to Sawaia.

“During my exit meeting at the end of the season, we talked about being clean and being committed to the process,” he said of their advice that stuck with him in Reno. “I tried to focus on putting balls in the fairway and staying patient.”

While the scorecard doesn’t show any mistakes, it also doesn’t show the heroics Sawaia had to perform on the finishing hole to secure the win. Nursing a one-stroke lead, his approach took a hard kick right into a native area hazard. With Swanson two-putting for par, Sawaia needed to get up and down from the hazard to avoid a playoff or worse.

He got a club on the ball, chipped out to 5½ feet and made the putt for the win.

“It felt pretty great. It’s the best 5-footer I’ve ever made,” he said, before adding, “So far.”

An uber-talented junior player at Coronado High School in Henderson, Sawaia hasn’t had as much success in college. But the arrival of Hebert last year has made a huge difference in his confidence, he said.

“I’ve grown up more in the last year than I ever have before,” he said. “I give the credit to coach Hebert and coach Mac.”

He also thinks another year of playing with Fioroni, one of the top college players in the nation, will benefit him during their upcoming senior seasons.

“He’s just uber-talented,” Sawaia said of Fioroni. “He’s pushed me in ways that other people couldn’t.”

Winning can be addictive, but Sawaia doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself. For now, he wants to enjoy this victory.

“It felt good to close out a tournament,” he said.

U.S. Junior qualifiers

Coronado junior Brynn Kort earned one of three spots in the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur qualifier at Las Vegas National last week. Kort was co-medalist with Abra Richmond, a senior from Glendale, California, after both shot 1-over 72s. Pin-Hsi Chen, a senior from Taipei, edged recent Coronado graduate Lilly DeNunzio for the third spot after both shot 73. DeNunzio is first alternate.

In the boys qualifier, junior Kent Karlson of Rancho Mirage, California, and junior Wangwa Lai of Pebble Beach, California, earned the two available spots with even-par 71s. First alternate Cheng-En Wu, a junior from Taipei, is the first alternate after also shooting 71.

The boys U.S. Junior Amateur is July 24-29 in Charleston, South Carolina. The girls event is July 17-22 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Henderson’s Yana Wilson is the defending champion.

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. Reach him at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.