Balanced Rebels set for spring golf season

When UNLV golf coach Dwaine Knight signed local stars AJ McInerney and Zane Thomas a year ago, he believed the program was positioning itself to be a national championship contender.

Now, he’s hoping the investment will begin to pay off.

The Rebels, who are ranked 40th in the nation by Golfweek, begin their 2013 spring season today in Hawaii at the 54-hole John Burns Invitational.

When they tee off at Turtle Bay Resort, freshmen McInerney and Thomas will join senior Kevin Penner, junior Blake Biddle and sophomore Carl Jonson as UNLV’s starting five in a loaded 15-team field that includes defending champion California, the nation’s No. 1-ranked squad.

“It’s going to be a good test for us,” Knight said. “The course is fast. There’s a lot of wind. Cal’s the best team in the country right now. But we think we have the talent to compete with anyone.”

McInerney, who starred at Coronado High School, played well in the fall. He tied for second at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Dublin, Ohio, on Oct. 8-9 and had two other top-15 individual finishes — a tie for 11th at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Ala., on Oct. 15-16 and a tie for 14th at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sept. 9-10.

Thomas started slowly but had his best tournament at the end of the fall season with a 41st-place finish at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M., on Oct. 22-23.

“AJ is proving to be one of the best freshmen in the country, and Zane is playing better of late,” Knight said. “They’ve earned the right to be starting.”

While McInerney and Thomas are showing they can compete at the college level, the key Rebels throughout the spring will be Penner and Biddle.

Penner, who is on the Ben Hogan Award watch list and won the All-America Golf Classic in November and the Nevada Open in December, is ranked No. 15 among individuals nationally.

Biddle played well last summer and carried that momentum into the fall, when he tied for medalist honors in helping the Rebels place second at the Wimberly.

“Kevin’s leadership is so important,” Knight said. “But he and Blake have been through this before, and they’ll be a good influence on our young players.

“I think we showed in the fall that we can compete with the best, and we’ve got some momentum from the fall, and I think we can get off to a good start to the spring. I’m very optimistic.”

Fans can track the team’s play this week online directly at Golfstat.com or via a link through unlvrebels.com.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.