Most professional golfers faced with a 200-yard shot from the rough over a hazard to a tucked pin on a green that falls away from the player and toward a lake will tend to play conservatively.

They'll hit the ball toward the middle of the green, away from trouble, and hope to get a two-putt par.

It's exactly the type of scenario that Bob Aube, a former UNLV student, detests. He thinks the conservatism of most professional players turns off many people from becoming fans of the game.

"People want offense," said Aube, who founded the National Golf League in an effort to bring that concept to the sport.

Aube's NGL rewards players who take risks and penalizes those who don't.

He envisions the NGL, which has plans to expand into Las Vegas in 2007, eventually becoming as popular as leagues such as the NFL and NBA.

Yes, he has heard the snickers. But Aube thinks that with time and patience it can become a reality.

"If you're going to dream, dream big," he said. "I understand it's not an overnight process. But the concept is so sound, as soon as people understand it, they always like it."

The NGL is a team-format concept in which the teams play 27 holes in a day, competing for 33 points. There is one point a hole available on the first eight holes of each nine and three on the ninth hole.

Players compete in best ball, scramble and alternate shot formats. If teams tie on a hole, there are no points awarded.

"We're kind of making it like the Arena Football League in the sense in that we're stressing offense," Aube said. "To get a point, they have to try to hit the par-5 in two, cut the corner on a long dogleg and try to ram the putts in. You see some spectacular shots because of it and sometimes you see some spectacular failures. But that's what the fans like about it. It's not plain, old, boring vanilla golf."

The league began in Northern California in 2005 and expanded to Southern California this year. It already has awarded franchises to Phoenix, Flagstaff and Scottsdale, Ariz., and there are plans to have one in Tucson, Ariz., and two in Southern Nevada to complete a Southwest division.

Eventually, Aube wants to take the concept national and have eight six-team divisions.

He has a television contract with Comcast Cable and said each competition is like MTV meeting the PGA Tour.

Music is played over a loudspeaker on the ninth hole, Hooters girls are about and players are encouraged to interact with the fans and each other.

"We want the players to be like Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez used to be," Aube said. "Right now, if Tiger Woods isn't playing, nobody really wants to watch golf. When the Canadian Tour is on The Golf Channel, it's a great excuse to catch a nap on a Saturday afternoon.

"The fans will have their own team to cheer for and a team to cheer against. We want to see every week be kind of what the Phoenix Open is on the PGA Tour."

• KNIGHT OPTIMISTIC -- Rebel men's golf coach Dwaine Knight said he thinks freshman Johnny Pinjuv, a Bishop Gorman High School graduate who transferred from Southern California, will have a big impact upon his team.

Pinjuv didn't play at USC, so his first year was taken as a redshirt and he has four years of eligibility with the Rebels.

"He is a big, strong kid and he generates a lot of club-head speed and can get the ball out there a long way," Knight said. "He's impressed me with his work ethic."

Pinjuv, who turns 20 on Friday, needs help in his short game, Knight said. But that is not surprising for most young players.

Knight said consistency is the issue for Pinjuv in the short game, but he said he was impressed by a final-round 63 that Pinjuv shot in 2005 during an American Junior Golf Association event at Angel Park.

"When you have someone who can put up that kind of a number, you know they're doing something right," Knight said.

Kevin Iole's golf notes are published Thursday. He can be reached at 396-4428 or kiole@reviewjournal.com.