UNLV MEN’S GOLF TO TEE UP SPRING SEASON IN HAWAII
Rebels will play at John A. Burns Intercollegiate Wednesday through Friday
The UNLV men’s golf team will open its spring season in Hawaii at the 38th Annual John A. Burns Intercollegiate, which will be played Wednesday-Friday, Feb. 19-21, on Kauai’s Wailua Golf Course (par 72, 6,991 yards).
The tournament, which is making a return trip to the Garden Island where it was held in 1978, features a 16-team field with five teams currently ranked in Golfweek’s Top 50: three-time defending champion and No. 2 California, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 15 New Mexico, No. 28 UNLV and No. 37 BYU.
Also competing are Arizona, Colorado State, Fresno State, UH-Hilo, Long Beach State, Nevada, Reno, Pacific, Saint Mary’s, UTEP and Washington State.
A municipal course located in Lihue, Wailua has played host to three USGA National Public Links Championships and has a top 10 rating by Golf Digest as one of the best courses in the state of Hawaii.
The 54-hole tournament will consist of 18 holes each day. The first and second rounds will begin at 8 a.m. HST, while the final round on Friday will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. HST.
In the lineup for the Rebels this week will be junior Kurt Kitayama, junior Carl Jonson, sophomore AJ McInerney, freshman Taylor Montgomery and freshman Chris Tuulik.
This year marks the third that the Burns has traveled off the island of Oahu.
In last year’s tournament, Cal won going away by 27 strokes at 14-under, while Joel Stalter took medalist honors by eight shots with a 12-under 204 total. As a team, UNLV finished sixth at 25-over. The Rebels’ top returning finisher from last year’s Burns is McInerney, who tied for 17th at 7-over. Johnson is the only other Rebel from last year to return to the Burns this week. He finished tied for 37th at 12-over.
Live scoring of the tournament will be available off a link at UNLVRebels.com, courtesy of Golfstat, and may be accessed by clicking here.
UNLV played in four events during the fall season, recording three top-five finishes, including a victory at the season-opening Carmel Cup. Rebel individuals have turned in six top-10 performances so far this season.
Follow UNLV men’s golf on Twitter – @UNLVGolf