April 3, 2013

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's golf team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the 41st annual ASU Thunderbird Invitational, which will be played at Karsten Golf Course (par 71, 7,026 yards) on Friday-Sunday, April 5-7.

The 18-school tournament will consist of 18 holes played each day, which is a change from last year's two-day tournament. This year's field is made up of Arizona, host Arizona State, California, Cal State Northridge, Denver, Harvard, Hawaii, Iowa State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Diego State, Seattle, St. John's, UC Davis and UNLV.

The Rebels' lineup will consist of senior Kevin Penner, freshman AJ McInerney, sophomores Kurt Kitayama and Carl Jonson, and junior Nicholas Maruri.

UNLV finished fourth (out of 17 teams) at last year's Thunderbird Invitational at 2-under 850, 15 shots behind team champion California (17-under). Individually, Derek Ernst, who was a senior at UNLV last year, captured medalist honors by two shots at 9-under 204. Of the players traveling for UNLV this week, Jonson turned in the top finish at last year's event with a tie for 23rd at 2-over.

In its last tournament, UNLV finished ninth at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz. In eight total events this season, the Rebels have turned in four top-four finishes.

Live scoring of the Thunderbird Invitational will be available on the internet courtesy of Golfstat through a link at UNLVRebels.com.