Oct. 26, 2009

Results

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The No. 17 UNLV men's golf team shot an opening-round 12-under-par 272 in the morning on Monday and followed that up with a second-round 5-under 279 during the afternoon, putting the Rebels in the lead at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate, which is being played at the 7,074-yard, par-71 New Mexico State University Golf Course.

UNLV leads the tournament by one shot at 17-under 551. Washington State (277-275) is second at 16-under 552 and is followed by Kansas State in third at 10-under, Nevada, Reno, in fourth at 6-under and host and defending tournament champion New Mexico State rounds out the top five at 4-under.

UNLV sophomore Derek Ernst fired an opening-round 7-under 64, then shot 1-under 70 during the second round to capture the individual lead, also by a stroke, at 8-under 134. Illinois State's Tommy Bliefnick (68-67), UNR's Jared Becher (68-67) and Washington State's Trent Sanders (68-67) are all tied for second at 7-under. There is a three-way tie for fifth at 6-under.

UNLV freshman Kevin Penner shot 5-under 66 and even-par 71, over the first two rounds, respectively, and is tied for eighth at 5-under. Other Rebel players: sophomore Colby Smith (71-69) is tied for 20th at 2-under 140, senior Eddie Olson (71-70) is tied for 26th at 1-under 141 and senior Brett Kanda (72-70) is tied for 28th at even-par 142.

The 17-team, 93-individual tournament will conclude on Tuesday with 18 holes.