Penner, UNLV men’s golfers fall hopelessly behind in Collegiate Masters

Kevin Penner had just missed his birdie putt on his final hole at Southern Highlands on Saturday. As he walked off the green, he tossed his ball into the water that buttressed the par-5 No. 9.

Penner’s gesture summed up UNLV’s disappointing weekend at its own tournament, the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters.

The Rebels, who won the event last year, shot 9-over-par 297 in the second round and trail first-place California by 31 strokes. At 20-over 596, UNLV is tied with Florida for 11th in the 15-team field entering today’s final round.

Cal, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, is at 565, 10 strokes in front of second-place Alabama and 11 ahead of Stanford. Michael Kim led Cal with a 5-under 67.

“We’re just not clicking,” UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said. “The effort was good. We hit some good shots. But we just can’t seem to get everyone playing well together.”

Penner, a senior and UNLV’s best player, did not recover from a horrific start. He began his round from the No. 10 tee with a double bogey, then made triple bogey on the 11th hole and bogey at No. 12. He limped in with a 7-over 79, and his score didn’t even count in UNLV’s team total. The top four scores from the five-player lineup count.

Penner had to take a drop from an unplayable lie on his first hole and had a lost ball on his second.

“When you get off to a bad start like I did, it’s hard to make it up,” he said. “I played OK after that. But it’s been a frustrating spring. I didn’t play well in Hawaii (last month), and I haven’t played well here this week.”

Knight said the notion of Penner’s score not counting in his team’s total never crossed his mind.

“No way. No way,” Knight said. “That’s not like him.”

But it wasn’t all hopeless for the Rebels. Sophomore Kurt Kitayama rebounded from an 81 Friday to shoot par 72, the team’s best round of the day. Freshman AJ McInerney also played well despite struggling to stay in the fairway, finishing with a 73 after Friday’s 76.

“I just let it go,” Kitayama said. “Coach told me not to worry about it, and I played much looser.

“(Friday) I got in trouble trying to go at the pins. (Saturday) I just tried to hit the greens, and it made all the difference.”

Junior Blake Biddle shot 3-over 75, and sophomore Carl Jonson shot 77 to round out UNLV’s team scoring.

Four other Rebels played as individuals, with Nicholas Maruri shooting 74, Zane Thomas 76, Arthur Kim 78 and David Flynn 82.

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