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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women’s golf team won its second straight conference title at the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship Thursday on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club (Par 72, 6,286 yards).
This marks the program’s ninth league championship overall and the sixth under 15th-year head coach Amy Bush-Herzer. It’s also the team’s first championship repeat since capturing three straight MW titles from 2016-18.
FINAL-ROUND COMEBACK: After trailing by two shots entering the day, the Rebels (+14) put together a final-round 5-over to outlast surging San Jose State (+16) by one shot and previous leader Grand Canyon (+20) by six in the final standings. Sophomore Amber Chen spearheaded the comeback, shooting a final-round 3-under 69 and dropping five birdies for the team’s best individual round of the week.
REBEL FINISH: Needing a par-or-better hole to seal the victory on the par-5 18th hole, junior Zi Yu Foong hit a highlight reel approach shot before knocking in a birdie to end her 1-over 73 third round. Also helping the Scarlet & Gray finish with a 2-under-par 18th hole as a team, junior Jane Huang and freshman Demi Du added two more birdies, while freshman Lana Yamagata made par.
REBEL ROUNDUP: Foong, who paced the Rebels with under-par scores in the first two rounds, and Chen each finished tied for third at even-par 216 for the tournament. Pitching in another top-10 finish, Yamagata tied for 10th at 4-over 220, rebounding from a 3-over start to the final round by making par on the final 14 holes. The lineup was rounded out by a tied-for-26th finish by Du (+10) and a 39th-place finish by Huang (+17) as they added another pair of final-round 3-over 75 scorecards.
QUOTABLE: “(The girls) just embraced the moment. They all truly love each other and they truly like being around each other. They feel safe in our team environment to be themselves and I think that’s how they got it done today.”
-UNLV Head Coach Amy Bush-Herzer
UP NEXT: UNLV will await the NCAA Women’s Golf Selection Show airing on the Golf Channel on Wednesday, April 29 at 1 p.m. PT to learn its NCAA Regional destination as an automatic qualifier.
OTHER NOTES:
With the victory, the Rebels have now posted five top-5 finishes during the 2025-26 campaign and their third consecutive top-5 outing.
Chen notched a top-3 finish for the third straight tournament while also logging her fourth top-10 effort on the season.
This was Foong’s second year in a row in the lineup for the Scarlet & Gray at the MW Championship. Chen, who was an alternate last year, made her league debut along with Huang, Du and Yamagata.
Foong leads all Rebels with five top-3 finishes on the year.