Tuesday, May 13, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.
Forget the national championship and the sterling reputation.
UNLV men's golf coach Dwaine Knight did not anticipate his team being ranked among the favorites for Thursday's NCAA regionals after the Rebels turned in a mediocre fourth-place finish at the Mountain West Conference tournament 10 days ago.
To Knight's pleasant surprise, the Rebels got off a plane Monday in Seattle holding the No. 2 seed in the West regional, eager to begin working on the 14th trip to the NCAA championships in Knight's 16-year tenure.
"I was looking for up to a four seed," Knight said. "To get a two seed is really outstanding. I think that shows the strength of how the team played this year."
Knight credited the Rebels' 44-23-1 mark against Golfweek/Sagarin Top 25-ranked competition as a major reason for the high seeding behind UCLA and right above Arizona. UNLV (No. 10) faces a tough field that includes seven other Top 25 teams and four Mountain West opponents at the three-day West regional at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.
Knight said his team enjoys the challenge of being matched with the Bruins and Wildcats in the first round. The early tee times also give the Rebels the advantage of knowing that they are almost certain to get in their entire round on the first day.
Pressure, however, is relative this week for UNLV -- the team just completed spring final exams Monday morning.
"We got that behind us and now we can enjoy a little golf," Knight said.
To truly enjoy themselves, the Rebels will need to come up with better golf than they did at the MWC tournament. With a 4-over 868, the Rebels finished 13 strokes behind runaway winner New Mexico, and sophomore Travis Whisman's 1-under 215 was good for a seventh-place showing that led the team.
Sophomore Ryan Moore tied for eighth at 1-over and sophomore J.C. Deacon tied for 10th at 2-over.
"We never did get the hot round at conference," Knight said. "We're disappointed that we didn't compete."
However, Knight believes his squad is not far from top form.
"We were always around 74, 75, 76 for our high score," Knight said. "That bodes well. Our depth has played really consistent."
After winning the conference tournament, UNLV took third place at last year's West regional in Albuquerque before finishing 23rd at the NCAAs in Columbus, Ohio. The team practices today at exclusive Aldarra Golf Club and then gets its practice round Wednesday at Washington National.
Moore will seek to better his showing of a tie for 16th at last year's West regional, which he followed with a breakout eighth-place showing at nationals. The top 10 teams at the regional qualify for the NCAA championships May 27-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
archive
