Foes target No. 2 Rebels in tourney

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 9:43 a.m.

Despite playing a golf course on which they practice regularly, the UNLV golf team found itself in an unfamiliar position as it prepared for today's opening round of the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational at the Desert Inn Golf Club.

"We're the defending national champions and one of the top teams in the nation this year so everyone is going to be gunning for us," UNLV junior Jeremy Anderson said. "We're certainly the hunted and not the hunter, so to speak."

Ranked second in the nation, the Rebels are playing their only home tournament of the season this week. Eight of the top 10 teams in the country are among the 15-team field that is competing at 7:30 a.m. through Sunday.

Buoyed by a remarkable comeback to win their last tournament, the Rebels were full of confidence as they opened play in the Golf Digest tournament.

UNLV came from six shots back in the final round of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii, firing a 14-under-par 274 and beating fourth-ranked Oklahoma State by five shots.

"That was a big turning point for us, I think that gave us a lot of confidence coming into this weekend and the rest of the season," Anderson, who has won two individual titles this season, said.

"We're excited that we get to play in front of a lot of our own fans who haven't had a chance to see us play. I guess there is a little bit of added pressure because you want to do well for the hometown fans. But at the same time, it's a little more relaxed, too, because this is certainly a course we're familiar with."

Coach Dwaine Knight said he is pleased with the way the Rebels have come together as a team since opening the season with a seventh- and an eight-place finish. In the ensuing four tournaments, UNLV has two wins, a second and a third.

"We've been playing pretty good since (the Preview Invitational in) Alabama," Knight said. "We've won two times since then and had a second and a third and we've had three individual champions since then."

UNLV is being represented by Anderson, seniors Chris Berry and Charley Hoffman, junior Michael Kirk and sophomore Scott Lander this weekend.