Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Tucson course sets up well for No. 1 Rebels

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Wednesday. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.

UNLV takes its first step toward defending its NCAA national championship when the Rebels participate in the NCAA West Regional Championships this week in Tucson, Ariz.

In order to qualify for the NCAA Championships June 2-5 in Chaska, Minn., the Rebels must finish among the top nine teams in the 18-team West Regional field.

The Rebels, ranked No. 1 in the country in the Golfstat ratings, are the No. 1 seed for this week's tournament, which begins Thursday at the 7,087-yard Tucson National Golf Course.

UNLV has an outstanding track record in the regional, and at Tucson National in particular. The Rebels have never finished lower than fifth in their 10 previous West Regional appearances, winning three team titles, and have a first-place (1994) and a third-place (1992) finish in regionals held at Tucson National.

UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight said it is imperative the Rebels be in the hunt for the team title this week as they prepare to defend the program's first-ever national championship.

"It is extremely important that we play well at the regionals," Knight said. "We definitely want to come out of there with a sense of momentum heading into the finals.

"There are 18 teams competing that are all very capable. The teams that will advance will need to have a solid golf tournament and we certainly want to do that. We want to be competitive and have a chance to win the tournament heading into the final round."

Knight said that Tucson National is a course that sets up well for the Rebels -- if they can take advantage of the par-5s.

"It is a very good golf course and is extremely demanding," Knight said. "It is a course that rewards you for hitting good iron shots and the par-5s are accessible.

"There are some areas that are demanding, but we will just have to be patient and make up some strokes on the par-5s that we can reach in two. If we do that, we'll have a good tournament."

UNLV, which has five wins this season and is coming off a second-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference Championships, will be represented by seniors Chris Berry and Charley Hoffman, juniors Jeremy Anderson and Michael Kirk and freshman Adam Scott.

* SENIOR UPDATE: Charlie Baron, tournament manager for the Las Vegas Senior Classic, put an abrupt end to rumors that the Senior Classic would not utilize the TPC at The Canyons course for next year's tournament.

Many of the Senior PGA Tour players have complained about the course in the past, leading to speculation that the tour would play all four rounds at the TPC at Summerlin in future years. Not so, according to Baron.

"We have a contract with the tour and unless something drastic changes over a period of time, we're scheduled to go back ... and play on the two golf courses," Baron said. "But I didn't hear anything from any of the tour officials (last) weekend about (leaving The Canyons course)."

Baron also said that next year's Las Vegas Senior Classic will move back to the last week in April and will offer a $1.5 million purse -- a $100,000 increase.

Although the gallery for the final round of the Senior Classic appeared to be the smallest yet for this tournament despite perfect weather on Sunday, Baron said this year's gate actually was better than last year's for the final round.

"The only area we need to do better with is at the gate and we just don't seem to have any luck with the weather," Baron said, referring to the windy conditions Thursday and Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

"Our gate was better this Sunday than it was the previous year. It was not a great crowd, but a good crowd."

* ROHRET MOVES: Bill Rohret, formerly the golf course superintendent at Stallion Mountain Country Club, has been named director of golf maintenance at Angel Park Golf Club.

* LOCAL TOURNAMENTS: The Children's Advocacy Alliance will hold its inaugural Big Casino Shoot-out Golf Championship on Monday, May 24 at 2 p.m. at Stallion Mountain Country Club's South Course. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit abused and neglected children in Nevada. Call 450-6626 for additional information. ...

The North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation's second annual golf fund-raiser will be held Saturday, June 26 at Angel Park Golf Club's Mountain Course. Entry fee is $150 per player. Call 642-9595 for details. ...

The Las Vegas chapter of Executive Women's Golf will stage an all-women's golf tournament on Saturday, July 24 at the Las Vegas National Golf Club. Entry fee for the tournament is $85 per player. Call 368-7888 for additional information.

* UPCOMING EVENTS: The PGA Tour is in Forth Worth, Texas, this week for the MasterCard Colonial at Colonial Country Club. Tom Watson is the defending champion; The Golf Channel (Thursday and Friday) and CBS (Saturday and Sunday) will televise. ...

The Senior PGA Tour heads across the country following the Las Vegas Senior Classic for the Bell Atlantic Classic at Hartefeld National Golf Club in Avondale, Pa. Jay Sigel won last year's tournament; ESPN will televise Friday through Sunday. ...

The LPGA Tour is in Austin, Texas, for the inaugural Phillips Invitational Honoring Harvey Penick at Onion Creek Club. CBS will televise Saturday and Sunday.

The Southern Nevada Golf Association will stage the Boulder City Team Classic Saturday and Sunday at Boulder City Golf Club.

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