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May 1, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

The Wyoming Cowboys entered the 2000 Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship on Monday knowing that the inaugural MWC Championship would be one of the nation's top collegiate golf tournaments in the country. Three MWC teams entered this week ranked in the Top 11 in the nation. UNLV was ranked No. 9, BYU was No. 10 and New Mexico was No. 11 in the most recent Golfstat National Rankings. But the Pokes got off to a strong start and find themselves in fifth place after shooting an opening round of 302.

Like his team, UW junior David Hearn exceeded expectations in the first round. Hearn entered the Championship ranked sixth in stroke average among MWC players, but with an opening round two-under par 70 he finds himself tied for third place.

UNLV held the team lead after the first round, shooting a 280. Scott Lander of UNLV is the individual leader at 68, two strokes ahead of UW's Hearn. UW senior Reid Lende also fired an outstanding first round score of 73, one-over par, and is tied for 12th.

"We got off to a solid start," said Wyoming men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "David (Hearn), Reid (Lende) and Jake (Hunter) all played real strong first rounds. David came into the tournament knowing that he could compete for the individual title, and he shot the lights out on the back nine with a 34. That round of Reid's was outstanding. He's our one senior, and he played with a lot of determination today.

"You don't want to get off to a slow start when you're playing against a field like this, and the guys did a good job of putting together a solid round and keeping us in contention. We're only six strokes out of third right now, and if we can get a little lower fourth score tomorrow, we could make a move."

In addition to Hearn and Lende, UW junior Jake Hunter shot a 77 and is tied for 27th. Fellow Cowboy junior Kevin Kayden opened with an 82, and is in a tie for 33rd. Wyoming sophomore Mike Urbatchka is tied for 39th at 84.

Not only were UNLV (No. 9 in the nation), BYU (No. 10) and New Mexico (No. 11) all nationally ranked entering the tournament, but Colorado State (No. 38) and San Diego State (No. 41) were ranked in the Top 50. Wyoming holds a six-stroke advantage over San Diego State entering Tuesday's second round.

The 2000 Mountain West Conference Championship is being played at PGA West in Palm Desert, Calif., on the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The course measures 6,921 yards and plays to a par of 72. Tee times begin at 8 a.m., Pacific time each day. The tournament format will be 18 holes each of the three days for a total of 54 holes. The second round will tee off on Tuesday, May 2 beginning at 8 a.m.

Team Standings

1. UNLV            280 (-8)
2. Colorado State  287 (-1)
3. New Mexico      296 (+8)
   BYU             296 (+8)
5. Wyoming         302 (+14)
6. San Diego State 308 (+20)
   Utah            308 (+20)
8. Air Force       309 (+21)

Wyoming Players

David Hearn (Jr., Brantford, Ontario) T3rd    70 (-2)
Reid Lende (Sr., Livingston, Mont.)   T12th   73 (+1)
Jake Hunter (Jr., Page, Ariz.)        T27th   77 (+5)
Kevin Kayden (Jr., Fremont, Ohio)     T33rd   82 (+10)
Mike Urbatchka (So., Sheridan, Wyo.)  T39th   84 (+12)