Rebel golfers ready to battle tough course at NCAA Championship Finals

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, May 28, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Members of the UNLV golf team easily could be intimidated by this course.

After all, its challenging layout made for an unpleasant afternoon for the world's top golfer during his college career.

The No. 12 ranked Rebels on Tuesday will begin play in the NCAA Championship Finals at the difficult The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn. The facility's long, 7,260-yard layout frequently gives the most-accomplished golfers fits.

That includes Tiger Woods.

Woods fired an 8-over-par 80 in 1996 during the last round of the finals while golfing for Stanford, but still won the title by three strokes after having carded a then-course-record 5-under-par-67 in the second round.

"It's just like any other tournament where you have to get your work in ahead of time," said Derek Ernst, the UNLV sophomore who averaged a team-best 71.41 strokes per round this year in being named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year.

"We are also going to have to take advantage of the practice round and get together after (to compare notes)."

The Rebels have qualified for the finals in 17 of the last 22 seasons, but are making their first appearance since 2006.

For seniors Eddie Olson and Brett Kanda, returning to college golf's biggest stage is long overdue. They plan on making up for lost time.

"If we put it together as a team there is no reason why we can't win this thing," said Olson, who took second in the league the tournament and third last week at the NCAA San Diego Regional.

UNLV's rich golf tradition includes winning the 1998 national title and producing a long line of notable PGA professionals — Adam Scott, who has seven Tour wins and $20 million in career earnings, Chad Campbell, Charley Hoffman, Ryan Moore (the 2004 NCAA individual champion) and Chris Riley each shined with the scarlet and red.

Coach Dwaine Knight, in his 23rd season, is the program's architect and one of the sport's most-respected coaches. This marks his 25th time taking a team to the finals — he coached the University of New Mexico to the event seven times.

The tournament used to take the top 10 finishers in each regional. But, three years ago when UNLV's drought started, they trimmed the number to the top five — UNLV tied for third at the NCAA Regional San Diego last week.

"(The finals) are the tournament we aspire to play in when we start the season each fall," Knight said.

Knight nearly coached another UNLV to the national crown.

In 1996, the same year Woods won individually, UNLV was tied with Arizona State atop the leader board with three holes to play. The Rebels, led by the likes of Campbell and Riley, ended up losing to the Sun Devils by three strokes in finishing second.

Two years later, the Rebels won a school-record seven tournaments in capturing the national crown. Knight often wears his championship ring from the memorable season.

"It was a very special moment in my life," Knight said. "I'm very proud of (the ring). I like the guys to see it."

Knight's experience, especially in having familiarity with The Honors Course, has become a valuable resource to his golfers in their preparations.

"You can easily be overwhelmed (at the finals), so you try to keep them relaxed and in a competitive frame of mind," Knight said.

The tournament format starts with 54 holes of stroke play during the first three days to crown an individual champion and cut the field of 30 teams to eight. Those final eight will compete in a match-play format in the final three days to determine the champion.

The players admit the bigger stage could lead to added nerves. But, once they tee off, it will be just like any other tournament — UNLV won four of those in 13 events this year.

The players don't plan on letting anything, including the course, stand in their way of competing for a title.

"We aren't scared of it," Kanda said. "It's a good ball-striking course, which is good for me because I am long off the tee. ... It's so exciting for me to finally make it there. We've been waiting four years for this."