Columnist Adam Candee: Subpar finish doesn’t mar UNLV’s season

Adam Candee

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

Ryan Moore's suitcase from UNLV weighs a ton, but it is just a bit lighter than everyone associated with the Rebels expected.

He is an NCAA champion, a first-team All-American, the holder of every conceivable school scoring record and undoubtedly the best player ever to pass through coach Dwaine Knight's program. But while Moore takes away enough individual awards to keep an engraving shop in yachts and loafers for generations, he leaves the UNLV program without a national team title.

It is not a reflection upon Moore, certainly not like it would be for an athlete in a sport designed for teams. How could it be when he finished in the top 10 at nationals in three of his four years at UNLV and shot no rounds higher than 77 at those tournaments? That is not to single out which players are more or less culpable; rather, it is to say that Moore takes only a blanket one-fifth of the responsibility along with each of his teammates.

The challenge of winning a team college golf title, though, is close to unique. Asking at least four of a team's five golfers to bring out their best game four days in a row is a sky-high order. Asking them at an unforgiving course like Caves Valley in Maryland or a downright punishing track like Karsten Creek in Oklahoma is even tougher.

Winning the NCAA championship in golf is more about avoiding trouble and big numbers than it is about scorching a course with birdies. This sport just does not lend itself to such consistency of excellence for multiple players if they aren't all amazingly hot at the right time.

It obviously wasn't the right time for the Rebels, who are in a five-year spell that most programs would love, but they likely think of as pretty dry in terms of national accomplishments as a team.

Moore returned to college in part to try for what is easily the hardest goal he wanted to attain. He couldn't win this one on his own. He needed to rely on others, no small detail in a sport where relying on yourself and no one else is drilled in from the time you swing cut-down clubs next to your father on the driving range.

For most of this season, it looked like Moore's teammates were up to the task. Just going on what it accomplished by winning three times, including once without Moore, a fair case can be made that this was Knight's strongest top-to-bottom team in some time. True freshman Jarred Texter played most of the spring from the No. 5 slot, and he might be the team's most talented player behind Moore.

In Moore's four years at UNLV, this year's eighth-place finish is the highest the team accomplished. The Rebels missed nationals last season and placed 23rd in Moore's freshman year (when he tied for eighth) and 13th in his sophomore year (when he tied for 22nd). Even he struggled at times, like the maddening 3-over 73 he posted last week when his putting disappeared for a couple of days.

If, as Knight says, the only goal at UNLV is a national championship, then it is difficult to see this year's trip to nationals as a success. But, to dismiss it as a failure would be equally extreme because finishing among the top 10 teams in the country is not too shabby.

Sometimes, it's a no-fault occurrence. We love our defined outcomes and assigned blames in sports, but for once, this ain't the place for 'em.

Making it in are: Craig Barlow (67-66, Maryland); Mike Ruiz (72-68, California); Robert Gamez (68-68, Columbus) and Reno's Scott McCarron (68-65, Columbus)

Just missing the cut are: Texter (69-68, Maryland); Eric Meeks (73-75, California); Charley Hoffman (73-69, Columbus); Jeremy Anderson (70-74, Columbus); James Drew (70-75, Columbus); C.J. Gatto (75-73, Columbus #2); Kevin Lim (73-80, Florida) and Chad Fosburg (75-72, California).