Wednesday, March 1, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.
At first glance, an 11th-place showing by the UNLV men's golf team in its first outing of the spring season wasn't a bad start - especially when you consider that the Rebels started two freshmen and two sophomores in the John Burns Intercollegiate in Wahiawa, Hawaii.
But don't try telling that to head coach Dwaine Knight, who hasn't lowered his program's lofty expectations because of this team's relative inexperience.
"Our goals are still the same - to be competitive," Knight said after returning to the mainland. "We had our chances every day and we just didn't take advantage of it.
"No, our expectations won't be any lower because we're young. They're still going to be as high as we've always had them. We've just got to step up and make it work."
Knight started freshmen Seung-Su Han and Blake Trimble, sophomores Jarred Texter and C.J. Gatto and senior Andres Gonzales in the 19-team tournament. UNLV finished at 20 under par as a team - 21 shots behind team champion Southern Methodist University - while Texter tied for 12th individually at 10 under par.
"I felt like we probably made enough birdies to be in contention, but the mistakes at different times in the round really kept us from making those birdies count," Knight said. "You just have to have that patience to be able to hang in there and know that you're going to make your run.
"When you're 20 under and SMU and BYU are at 41, 40 (under) ... you've got to make all those birdies count in a shootout like that."
Knight said that will be the case when the Rebels host some of the best teams in the nation March 10-12 in the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship at Southern Highlands.
"We've got to bounce right back and get ready for it," Knight said. "It's great when you have the defending national champion and the top collegiate player in the nation in Pablo Martin from Oklahoma State coming in. That's going to be a terrific test for us."
Youth movement
Wie, 16, finished in third place after missing a playoff by one shot. Tour regulars Creamer, 19, and Pressel, 17, tied for 11th place. Both have finished in the top 20 in their first two LPGA Tour events this year.
Wie started the final round six shots off the lead, but posted a 6-under-par 66 and just missed a playoff between eventual winner Meena Lee and Seon Hwa Lee.
The LPGA Tour will make its annual stop in Las Vegas in mid-April for the LPGA Takefuji Classic .
Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at [email protected].
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