Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Rebel golf team pays heavy price in Hawaiian win

UNLV came out of last week's John A. Burns Intercollegiate golf tournament in Hawaii with its second team victory and third individual title of the season.

But there was some real concern in head coach Dwaine Knight's voice as he talked about his team's impressive come-from-behind win over rival Oklahoma State in Kanoehe, Hawaii.

Although Knight said he believes the Rebels are on the right track in terms of defending their national championship, he acknowledged they may have to do it without the help of promising freshman Adam Scott.

Scott, from Hope Island, Australia, reinjured a troublesome knee in Hawaii and his future with the Rebels this season is very much in doubt, Knight said.

"He stepped in a hole and the knee actually came out of joint," Knight said of Scott, who played through the pain and shot a final-round 65. "There was a large amount of swelling and it took a couple of days for the swelling to go down."

Knight said Scott will work with UNLV trainers in an attempt to strengthen the knee, but the freshman also will seek advice from doctors about corrective surgery.

"It's going to be a process to decide where he goes now," Knight said. "He has had some trouble with it in the past and they're trying to either put him on a program where he's not going to face this kind of thing again or they're going to have to look at surgery if that doesn't work."

Scott's travails notwithstanding, Knight said he was extremely pleased with the Rebels' performance in the second of two tournaments in Hawaii. Earlier on the trip, UNLV finished third in the Taylor Made Intercollegiate in Waikoloa.

UNLV trailed first-round leader Oklahoma State by 10 shots after 18 holes, cut the lead to six after 36 and won the tournament by five shots after a season-low final round of 14-under-par 274.

UNLV junior Michael Kirk shot rounds of 68, 66 and 69 to win the individual title by two shots over OSU's Charles Howell.

"The last tournament was just a terrific finish," Knight said. "We posted one of those 'Rebel rounds' the last day, which was very important for us. It was a goal going in that we get back on the trail of maintaining the low round for the Rebels the last day and we hadn't done that in a while.

"Not only did we post a low round, we posted an exceptional round."

Junior Jeremy Anderson and senior Charley Hoffman also placed in the top 11, giving Knight additional reason to be optimistic as the Rebels head into their final four tournaments prior to the postseason.

"I feel really good about where we (are)," Knight said. "I think we're a team that is going to continue to improve. Our goal is to be really competitive when the national championship rolls around and as you pick up wins along the way, that certainly helps your confidence.

"I feel we've got a good team, we're maturing rapidly and the new people in the mix are really coming around. That was a big statement that we were able to make last week."

* SENIOR QUALIFIER: An 18-hole open qualifying tournament will be held on Monday, May 10 to fill four spots in the field for the Las Vegas Senior Classic.

The field for the qualifier will be limited to 156 professionals over the age of 50 who do not have exempt status on the Senior PGA Tour. For additional information, call 242-3000.

* VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT: The Las Vegas Senior Classic is looking for volunteers for the 14th annual event, which will be held May 13-16 at the TPC at Summerlin and the TPC at The Canyons.

Anyone interested should call the tournament office at 242-3008.

* SANCHEZ NAMED: The Revere at Anthem, the first of four daily-fee golf courses planned at Del Webb's Anthem Community in Henderson, has named Shane Sanchez head golf professional.

Sanchez previously served as the head professional at the Palm Valley Golf Course in Las Vegas and also has worked at Highland Falls Golf Course in Las Vegas and Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Ariz.

* UPCOMING EVENTS: The PGA Tour will stage its inaugural World Golf Championships event, the $5 million Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, today through Sunday at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. The 64-player field, which will be competing for the first-place prize of $1 million, was determined by the official World Golf Rankings as of Feb. 15. ESPN will televise today through Friday and ABC will handle the coverage on the weekend. ...

Many of the PGA Tour pros who did not qualify for the lucrative World Golf Championships will be in Arizona this weekend for the $2.75 million Tucson Open -- the final event of the tour's West Coast swing. David Duval is the defending champion of the tournament, which will be televised by The Golf Channel (Thursday and Friday) and NBC (Saturday and Sunday). ...

The Senior PGA Tour is in Naples, Fla., this week for the $1.2 million ACE Group Classic at Bay Colony Golf Club. Gil Morgan is the defending champion; ESPN will televise the event Friday through Sunday. ...

The LPGA Tour will stage the Australian Ladies Masters this week at the Royal Pines Resort in Gold Coast. Australian native Karrie Webb won last year's tournament. The Golf Channel will televise Friday through Sunday.

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