No. 4 Auburn out; Wildcats hold lead

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- UNLV wasn't the only team to make a surprising early exit from the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships.

Fourth-seeded Auburn, which won the NCAA Central Regional, posted a two-round score of 21-over-par 589 and missed the cut by two strokes. The University of Arizona, the No. 9 seed and fourth-place finisher in the West Regional, was at 30-over-par 598 and tied for 26th in the field of 30.

First-round leader Northwestern continued its storybook run at a national championship by shooting a combined 289 (5 over par) and holding the lead going into today's third round. Houston was in second place, two shots back of the Wildcats, and East Tennessee State and Pepperdine were tied for third, four shots off the pace.

Head coach Pat Goss of Northwestern, which plays about half its practice rounds on Conway Farms Golf Club, said his team's showing is no accident -- and it went out and proved it by shooting one of the day's best rounds despite howling winds.

"We know how this course will play in just about any conditions," Goss said. "Still, you have to make good golf shots and make some putts.

"They are really loose right now. Since we finished at regionals, we wanted to practice hard so that when we got here, we could enjoy playing here. This is something they will remember their whole lives."

Defending national champion Arizona State made the biggest move of the day, shooting a combined 3-under-par 281 and vaulting from a tie for 21st place into seventh.

Keith Nolan of East Tennessee State fired the day's low individual round -- a 5-under-par 66 -- to move into a tie with first-round leader Jason Gore of Pepperdine at 5-under 137.

"There was a confidence factor coming back to this course," said Nolan, who won the Ping Preview Invitational at Conway Farms in October. "My game is built on aggression. There were a couple times today when I could have hit the driver instead of the 3-wood, but I thought the 3-wood was a smarter play because it was being aggressive.

"In conditions like this, you've got to be more patient. I think that's one of the better aspects of my game."

* AILING COACH: Pepperdine, which was tied for third place entering today's third round, has been without the services of its head coach, John Geiberger. Geiberger, the son of golfing legend Al Geiberger, came down with a case of chicken pox and has been quarantined in his hotel room near the course. Because of the contagious nature of his ailment, Geiberger has been unable to have any contact with his players, other than by phone. To take his place on the course, Geiberger summoned former Waves team captain Kevin Marsh, who is playing the Hooters Tour but had an off-week, to serve as interim coach.

* PREVIEW JINX?: UNLV perpetuated the "Preview Jinx" by failing to make the cut in the NCAA Championships after winning the Ping Preview Invitational at Conway Farms back in October. No team that has won the Preview on the same course that hosts the NCAA Championships has ever gone on to win the national title. "When we won the Preview, I remember someone saying that no one has ever won the Preview and then won the national championship at the same course," said UNLV junior Bill Lunde. "When we heard that, we all said, 'Well, we'll be the first ones.' We didn't even think about that this week, it just turned out that way."

* ADD LUNDE: The UNLV junior said it was no big surprise to be greeted by rain, wind and chilly temperatures at this year's NCAA Championships. "We play a lot of tournaments during the year and there always seems to be bad weather," Lunde said. "There's a joke about college golf: It wouldn't be college golf if the weather was good."

* CHIP SHOTS: Going into this week's NCAA Championships, UNLV had finished first or second in 12 of its past 16 tournaments dating to last year. ... Decorative tee markers bearing the 100th anniversary logo of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships were missing from the tee boxes for Wednesday's opening round. The NCAA Tournament Committee circulated memos to all 30 head coaches with teams competing in this week's event Wednesday night and the tee markers miraculously appeared in time for Thursday's second round. ... Among the gallery following UNLV during the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships were Las Vegas Founders Club members Tom Hartley, Charlie Baron and Bob Cole, former Lady Rebels basketball coach Jim Bolla and former Rebel All-American golfers Chris Riley and Chad Campbell. UNLV athletics director Charles Cavagnaro made it to Chicago Thursday morning -- just in time to see the Rebels' final round of the season.