UNLV men's golf coach Dwaine Knight has high expectations for his team every year and is never pleased when the Rebels fail to win a tournament that was seemingly in their grasp.

But Knight is willing to cut the team slack for its defeat in the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii last week.

UNLV, ranked seventh nationally in the most recent Golfweek poll, held the lead heading into the final round of the Burns by eight shots over Brigham Young. But BYU shot a tournament-best 18 under par in the final round to leapfrog UNLV and relegate the Rebels to a second-place finish.

Usually, that would have been enough to raise the ire of the normally mild-mannered Knight.

UNLV finished eight shots behind the Cougars and 13 ahead of third-place Texas A&M.

"You know what? This is one of those times you have to just give all the credit to BYU," Knight said. "They played an awesome round. Eighteen under (in the final round) is unbelievable. Scoring wasn't easy that day. We didn't do some things we could have down the line to keep ourselves in it, but it wasn't us as much as they played so well."

The Rebels are off this week, then host their only home event March 9 at Southern Highlands with a field that includes top-rated Florida.

The field will be among the strongest UNLV faces all season and will be an indicator at the midpoint of the semester where the Rebels stand in their chase for the national title.

Unlike in the past, the team doesn't have an individual standout such as Ryan Moore, Jeremy Anderson or Chris Riley, but it has more depth than it has had in several years.

Junior Jarred Texter has begun to develop into a potential elite player. He has finished out of the top 10 just once in six events, and his scoring average of 70.72 is better than everyone but Brandon Loska, who has played just one event.

Knight said the reason for Texter's surge has been straight driving. He's finally adjusted to a grip change he made last year, weakening his grip, and has begun to control the ball better.

"His short game is a lot better, too, but his putting isn't at the level of his driving," Knight said. "When it gets to that point, he's going to get over the hump and get himself some wins."

• PROS ON THE MOVE -- Randy Weigman, who was the head pro and director of golf at Legacy Golf Club, was appointed director of golf at Aliante Golf Club.

He will be replaced as Legacy's director of golf by Byron Cone, the former general manager at Las Vegas Paiute Resort.

• RINGLER RADIO -- UNLV women's golf coach Missy Ringler will be a guest each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on Harvey Hyde's sports talk radio show on KSHP-AM (1400).

The segment will be streamed on the Internet on the women's golf page at unlvrebels.com.

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