Tuesday, April 28, 1998 | 9:20 a.m.
The top-ranked UNLV men's golf team shot an opening-round 11-under-par 277 to grab first place Monday at the Western Athletic Conference Championship on the par-72, 7,128-yard Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore, Calif.
The Rebels, who shot 5-under-par on hole No. 18, lead second-place Texas Christian by one stroke. Texas-El Paso is in third, followed by Brigham Young and New Mexico. Seven teams shot even-par or better during the first round.
"It was a solid start for us today," UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said. "We got a feel for the course yesterday and came up with a strategy that seemed to pay off for us today. We will look at it tonight and fine-tune a couple of things. We had good balance with all five of our players and it was a good day for scoring, weather-wise. Bill (Lunde) and Jeremy (Anderson) both had really good rounds for us. I am very happy with our performance."
Brigham Young's Andy Miller (66, six-under par), the 1997 WAC Individual Champion, has the individual lead. J.J. Henry (67) of TCU is in second, while UNLV's Bill Lunde (68) and Jeremy Anderson (68) are in a four-way tie for third.
"It is nice to get off to a good start like we did today," Anderson said. "We put ourselves in a good position early and that is a key in a big tournament like the WAC Championship. Now we don't have to use all of our energy to come from behind, which is nice."
Other Rebels competing were Chris Berry (70/tied for 12th), Scott Lander (71/tied for 21st) and Charley Hoffman (72/tied for 28th).
The tournament continues today and concludes Wednesday.
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