Rebels sit 5th after Day 1

Victoria Sun

Thursday, June 1, 2000 | 10:16 a.m.

OPELIKA, Ala. -- The other 27 teams in the 2000 NCAA Men's Golf Championships only got to imagine Texas tearing through the par-72 7,003-yard course at the Grand National Golf Club like a tornado out of the movie "Twister."

They didn't get to witness Texas' David Gossett, the U.S. Amateur champion, tying the course record with a 9-under-par 63. Nor did they see his teammate, freshman J.J. Wall, calmly post a 65.

UNLV and Fresno State weren't so lucky.

The Rebels and the Bulldogs were paired with Texas, whose 16-under-par 288 team total Wednesday afternoon gave the Longhorns an eight-stroke lead over Georgia Tech entering today's second round.

UNLV, which teed off this morning, was tied with New Mexico, Arizona, and East Tennessee State for fifth place at 286. The 72-hole tournament runs through Saturday.

"You can't worry too much about that," UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said of Texas' scorching day. "It was just awesome golf to watch."

Rebel senior Jeremy Anderson shot 69, UNLV's low round, with an eagle, four birdies, and three bogeys. UNLV's Michael Kirk had a 70 while Calvin Kupeyan carded a 71 and Robert Sul, who was in Wall's group, a 76.

Anderson was in Gossett's threesome and watched in awe as Gossett made it look like he was playing miniature golf, not the first round of the NCAA championship. Gossett managed his low score despite the fact that he had a double-bogey on a par-3 that Anderson parred.

"If someone gave me a 69 before the first round started, I probably would have taken it," Anderson said. "But playing with a guy that shot a 63, 69 doesn't quite feel the same.

"You always want to play with a guy that's playing well because you feed off of them."

Anderson played solid on the front nine and ended up at 3-under at the turn. He eagled the par-5 527-yard fourth hole with a 51-foot putt.

"They come once in a while," Anderson said of the long putt. "You stop, laugh about it and enjoy it."

Anderson bogeyed the fifth hole after his second shot hooked left into the woods and he had to take a drop. Then he regrouped with birdies on six and eight and narrowly missed birdie putts on seven and nine.

"I putted well," he said. "I left a couple short and I'd like to get it back, but I can't complain."

For UNLV, chipping away at Texas' lead to get back in contention is a top priority.

In order to do that, the Rebels need a better round from Sul and Scott Lander. Lander, the Rebels' No. 3 golfer, struggled to a 7-over-par 79. Because only the top four scores count, Lander's round was thrown out.

Kupeyan, who had four birdies, one bogey and one double-bogey when he was too aggressive on the par-3 205-yard 17th hole and hit the ball into the water, said there was no reason to panic after one day.

"All five guys have to play well and we can't leave any shots out there," he said. "I still think that if Scott and Robert shoot around par the next few days we'll be in position.

"I thought we'd be a little more competitive right from the start, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We should be at the top and we're further behind than we thought. But now is not the time to say uh-oh."