Search for consistency

Tuesday, April 25, 2006 | 8:24 a.m.

As he prepares his team for this week's Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship, Dwaine Knight's comfort begins and ends with the golf course.

The Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort in central Oregon has hosted the tournament each year since 2001.

Although the Rebels have won two tournaments this season (one in the fall and their own tournament last month) and finished in the top 10 in each of their past three outings, Knight admitted he doesn't know what to expect when his young team tees it up Thursday morning in the first of three rounds.

"Consistency has been the major disappointment for us this season. We haven't had it across the board," Knight said. "But I can't fault them on their work ethic, and I can't fault them on their determination. It's just the consistency of being in the hunt continuously that we wanted to see a little bit more of, obviously."

The Rebels, ranked eighth in the country by Golfweek magazine, will field a lineup this week that features senior Andres Gonzales, three sophomores (Jarred Texter, C.J. Gatto and Matt Kinsinger) and a freshman (Seung-Su Han).

"It is a very young group," Knight said, but one that has "some of the attributes of some of our great teams: The ability to shoot low, the ability to play really well in the last round and to get a lead and keep it. Those are the things that have been really outstanding about this team."

Another trait the team has displayed this season, Knight said, is the tendency to play to the level of the competition. While the Rebels' two victories came on tough golf courses against strong fields, they didn't dominate the tournaments on easier courses and against weaker fields.

That might prove to be good news for the Rebels. The Mountain West Conference tournament features one of its strongest fields in years, according to Knight.

In addition to tuning up for a possible return to Crosswater next month for the NCAA Championships, the Rebels will have another reason to play well this week in Oregon.

Although the Rebels have played in the NCAA West Regional in each of the past 17 years, Knight said this year's Mountain West Conference champion might not automatically remain in the West.

"It's going to be interesting (because) they're trying to get parity across the country," Knight said of the NCAA Men's Golf Committee. "The regional is at Tucson National (Golf Club) and we would love to go back there. But I think even winning the conference is not going to guarantee you that.

"We want to play well, we want to win this thing and remain a high seed because as they balance the country, that would give us a chance - if we could stay in that top 10 - to stay out West."

Also noted

Mountain West Conference team titles won by UNLV since the conference was formed in 2000

UNLV's stroke margin of victory over New Mexico in the 2000 MWC Championships - a conference record