UNLV MEN’S GOLF NINTH AFTER FIRST ROUND IN HAWAII
Rebels, who are playing three freshmen, shoot 5-over as a team;
Jonson fires 1-under par and is tied for 10th at Burns Intercollegiate
The UNLV men’s golf team, which is playing three freshman, shot an opening-round 5-over-par 293 on Wednesday at the 38th Annual John A. Burns Intercollegiate, which is being played at Kauai’s Wailua Golf Course (par 72, 6,991 yards).
Three-time defending tournament champion and No. 2-ranked California (according to Golfweek) is the team leader after a 10-under 278 and leads the field by seven shots. Arizona is in second place at 3-under, followed by No. 6 Texas A&M at 2-under. No. 37 BYU is fourth at 1-under, while New Mexico rounds out the top five at even par. UNLV, ranked No. 28, is tied for ninth with three other schools.
Individually, Arizona’s Erik Oja leads by three shots at 8-under 64, while defending medalist Joel Stalter from California is second at 5-under. BYU’s Justin Keiley is third at 3-under, while Nevada, Reno’s Rhyne Jones is fourth at 3-under.
UNLV junior Carl Jonson led all UNLV players on Wednesday with a 1-under 71 and is tied for 10th. He birdied the first hole, then had three straight bogeys on holes No. 2-4 before recording birdies on No. 6, 8 and 10.
Junior Kurt Kitayama is tied for 18th at even-par 72, freshman Taylor Montgomery is tied for 30th at 1-over 73, freshman Redford Bobbitt is tied for 75th at 5-over 77 and freshman Chris Tuulik is tied for 82nd at 6-over 78. Bobbitt replaced sophomore AJ McInerney in the lineup as he remained home to attend to a personal issue.
The 17-team, 90-individual tournament will continue Thursday and conclude Friday with 18 holes each day.
Live scoring of the tournament is available on the internet courtesy of Golfstat through a link at UNLVRebels.com.
Follow UNLV men’s golf on Twitter – @UNLVGolf