May 31, 2000

Box Score

OPELIKA, Ala. - The UNLV golf team sits in fifth place after firing a first-round two-under par 286 at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Wednesday.

Seniors Jeremy Anderson and Michael Kirk and freshman Calvin Kupeyan each carded rounds under par to lead the Rebels on the day. Anderson sits in a tie for eighth place, six strokes behind Texas' David Gossett after a three-under 69. Gossett, who is paired with Anderson for the tourney's first two rounds, is the first-day leader after recording nine birdies and an eagle. His 63 propelled the Longhorns to the team lead with a 16-under 272.

"I want to play with people who are playing well," Anderson said of his round with Gossett. "I tend to feed off of them. It went okay today. It seems lately that whether I hit them good or bad, at the end of the day I have a 69."

Kirk finished the day tied for 13th overall with a two-under 70 and Kupeyan shot one-under 71 to tie for 25th and put the Rebels in good position heading into tomorrow's play. The 30-team field will be cut to 15 teams following Thursday's second round.

Kupeyan was in position to finish three strokes under par and put the Rebels in a tie for fourth place with Houston, but he double bogeyed the par-three 17th hole and settled for a one-under round.

"I thought we played hard today," head coach Dwaine Knight said. "You hate to lose shots like that at the end. They can seem pretty precious as you head down the stretch. But we still managed a pretty good score for playing at such a late time in the day."

Rounding out the Rebels' scorecard was a four-over 76 round from freshman Robert Sul and a seven-over 79 from junior Scott Lander.

UNLV will play again tomorrow with Texas, who leads the team standings, and Fresno State, who sits in 20th place at five-over par. The teams will hit the No. 10 tee at 7:57 a.m. EDT.