Nov. 16, 2010
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's golf program has received signed national letters of intent from Carl Jonson and Kurt Kitayama to enroll at UNLV and play golf for the Rebels starting with the 2011-12 season, head coach Dwaine Knight announced Monday.
Jonson, from Bainbridge Island, Wash., is a senior who attends Bainbridge High School. He is ranked 42nd in the country in the latest Golfweek rankings among those in the class of 2011. During the 2009-10 high school season, he recorded a 67.6 scoring average and was his district's champion.
In addition to his distinguished record in the Pacific Northwest where he represented the state of Washington at this year's Junior Americas Cup, Jonson has numerous high finishes in national competitions and is the highest-ranked 2011 graduate from the state of Washington. During sectional qualifying for the U.S. Amateur this past summer, Jonson captured medalist honors at The Home Course site and set the tournament course record, besting a field that included the reigning NCAA Player of the Year, former U.S. Junior Amateur Champion and multiple collegiate All-Americans.
Jonson chose the UNLV program over Oregon, Texas A&M, Wake Forest and Washington.
"We are really excited to have Carl join the UNLV men's golf program," Knight said. "He comes from an area that we are familiar with, having had so many outstanding players come here from there - Ryan Moore, of course, comes to mind. We are excited that Carl is going to play for the Rebels and I think he will be a real solid addition to our team."
Kitayama, from Chico, Calif., is also a senior who attends Chico High School. He is the Junior Golf Association of Northern California (JGANC) Player of the Year for 2009 and is a two-time points leader for the JGANC. Besides representing Northern California on the Junior Americas Cup team as well as the Hogan Cup team each of the last two years, Kitayama also turned in a third-place finish at the 2009 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships against an outstanding international field on a U.S. Open venue, Torrey Pines (South Course). He chose UNLV over Oregon and Nevada, Reno.
"It is nice to have another Northern California Player of the Year join us," said Knight. "He has followed in the footsteps of players like Derek Ernst and Eddie Olson, who are both from that area. We have had some very good players from up there and we think that Kurt has a chance to be right there with those guys. He is a good athlete, as he also plays basketball as a shooting guard."
