Sul not shaken after 1st round

Victoria Sun

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

OPELIKA, Ala. -- Confidence has never been a problem for UNLV redshirt freshman Robert Sul.

So after he fired a 4-over-par 76 Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Men's Golf Championships, he wasn't concerned.

"I had some careless bogeys (on 9, 10 and 11)," Sul said. "Other than that, a 76? I can turn it around to a 68 or 67.

"It's not that hard. I just have to bring my score back down to get it. We've got three more days so I figure, if this is my bad round, it won't be too bad."

Sul's confidence shouldn't be mistaken for arrogance because he was humbled after last year, a year that turned out to be a disaster.

It was Sul's first experience living away from his parents in Torrance, Calif. He lived on what he said was the "party floor" of his dorm and says, "Everything imaginable that could go wrong did. You've heard the bad stories about student athletes? That was me."

His grades were so poor, he dropped two classes. By the middle of the fall semester, he was academically ineligible. That's when coach Dwaine Knight decided to redshirt him. Sul even quit playing for a few months before he wised up.

During the spring semester, Sul had to take six classes just to be eligible to play this year. He said there were times he thought about quitting the team. Now he's glad he didn't.

"I didn't want to go out and be known as one of those messed-up kids," Sul said. "I'm just trying to redeem myself."

Off the tee Kupeyan said there were two targets behind the green and he "just happened to pick the more aggressive one." His tee shot landed in the water and he had to take a drop. He chipped up to about 20 feet, but then missed the putt for bogey.

"I hit it great," Kupeyan said of his round. "I hit every shot I wanted to hit except for on 17. I was just playing too aggressive on 17."

The U.S. Amateur champion's score tied Auburn's Jason Dufner for the course record and also tied Phil Mickelson (Arizona State, 1992) and Jim Begwin (1984) for the lowest score in an NCAA Tournament. Gossett's score was also the lowest in relation to par. In 1989, Las Vegan Robert Gamez shot a 62 on the par-70 course at Oak Tree Country Club while playing for Arizona.

"I'm pleased," Gossett said. "I'm not going to get complacent here because it's only one round of golf, but it's nice to get off to a good start."