Columnist Victoria Sun: Rebels hope spot in West pays dividends

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, May 8, 2002 | 8:25 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. She can be reached at victoria@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4078.

Beyond pride, hardware and a two-tournament win streak, a lot was at stake for the UNLV men's golf team at the Mountain West Conference championships last week.

A win would have almost assuredly placed the Rebels in the West Regional Championships on the Championship Course in Albuquerque leading up to the NCAA finals.

Anything short of a victory would have probably meant the team would be shipped East to Georgia.

As it turned out, UNLV led the conference tournament from the start and captured its second title in three years a week ago today.

On Monday, just as coach Dwaine Knight hoped, the team learned it will indeed play in the West Regional May 16-18.

The significance of staying in the West?

In 1998, UNLV won its first and only NCAA title on the Championship Course in Albuquerque.

But UNLV doesn't only have history on its side. This year's team finished fourth at the Tucker Intercollegiate on the same course.

Knight also played at New Mexico (1966-'69) and was the Lobos' coach from 1978-'87 before taking over UNLV's program.

"That's really good for us, having played there in the fall," Knight said. "I was real happy we stayed in the West.

"It has always been special for me having coached there, played there and winning our championship there. This is the site we wanted to go back to.

"That was a really big win for us (the MWC championships). I felt if we could get back to Albuquerque, we'd be able to advance."

This will be the 14th consecutive time UNLV has qualified for the regionals.

Knight, named the Mountain West coach of the year, said the Championship Course sets up well for his team.

"I don't know how much rough they'll have, but it's a long golf course," Knight said. "Length off the tee helps.

"The par 5s are real important so we've got to take advantage of those. We should be able to reach three of the four par 5s so that's where a lot of scoring is going to take place. It's where big hitting teams have success."

None of the players from the 1998 squad will be competing at this year's regionals. A less seasoned, but equally determined, group will try to earn its place in UNLV history.

Freshman Ryan Moore, the Mountain West freshman of the year, leads the lineup of lone senior Clark Corbett, sophomore Brandon Askew, freshman JC Deacon and junior Brien Davis.

"There's a week and a half between the Mountain West and the regionals," Corbett said. "I just wanted to hop back on the plane and get out there and compete.

"I'm totally excited and ready to play again."

Before the Mountain West, UNLV took first at the Kepler Intercollegiate which was played at Ohio State, site of the NCAA Championships.

"We're kind of hot right now," Corbett said. "We're just trying to carry that over there.

"Our work ethic the whole year, even when we weren't playing well, has helped us. We were working hard in the gym, on the golf course and at school. We had great team chemistry and believed in each other."