On April 14, 2013, Adam Scott won the Masters, golf's biggest crown. The trophy ceremony was over, and congratulatory phone calls and messages were pouring in. One text was from Dwaine Knight, Scott's college coach. Scott thanked Knight, and quipped in his reply, "That putt on 18 should earn me lap credits," a reference to the penalty Knight imposes when players missed a goal he'd set for them in practice.
Talk to someone even a little familiar with the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ men's golf program and invariably you'll hear something like, "Dwaine Knight is just the nicest man." Sitting in his office recently, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's golf coach of almost 27 years brought up the Scott anecdote to make the point that, while he might be a nice fellow, he can be tough and firm.
Naturally. He's a head coach.
Knight's office walls tell the story: Covering practically every square inch are photographs and articles detailing his program's accomplishments. Knight has coached 41 All-Americans -- including Scott and current PGA Tour pros Chris Riley, Chad Campbell, and Ryan Moore. The Rebels have been to 12 consecutive NCAA Championships. Knight, himself, was selected in 2002 to the Golf Coaches Association of America's Hall of Fame. His biggest prize graces his finger: the 1998 national title ring.
"I think (we have) a very demanding program," Knight said. "Because of the goals these guys have to try to get to the next level, and because I played on the tour myself, I really have first-hand experience of how hard it is." Knight played professionally from 1972-77, winning the PGA's Southwest Open in his second season.
51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ golfers follow a fairly strict regimen. Three days a week, workouts start at 5:50 a.m. Weekly tournament play isn't automatic as spots are limited. Usually, Knight holds a two-day qualifier for two starting spots. Then he picks the week's three remaining starters. Knight tells recruits and their parents: "You know you've got to earn a spot to play."
And he expects them to graduate. "We don't lower those standards for anyone," Knight said. "Whether you're a first-team All-American or you're just on the team, barely hanging on, I still expect that."
Top Recruiting Tool
Obviously, not every college golfer achieves his PGA Tour dreams. But for several years, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has been the top-producing school -- "really good advertising for our program," Knight said.
In the Rivals Cup, which ranks colleges by how well their former students are doing on the PGA Tour, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has been trading first and second place with Georgia Tech all year.
Knight arrived at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ in 1987, after 10 years coaching at his alma mater, New Mexico. He took a leap of faith after talking to university and Las Vegas community leaders who said raising money for a fledgling program would be no problem. "And they were right," Knight says, "(raising money) was the last of our concerns, once we got going.
"I think the can-do spirit of the town was what impressed me."
During his 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ courtship, Knight met a pre-Mirage Steve Wynn -- "I didn't even know who he was at the time" -- and Wynn impressed upon him what the university meant to the city. (Wynn later opened the super-exclusive Shadow Creek Golf Course and told Knight, "Come play.")
"So it was a leap of faith for me: to leave my alma mater, a place where we'd had some success, to come to a place where they'd never been to an NCAA."
Winning Tradition
Today, the program has close to $6 million in endowments. The university pays the coaches' salaries, and the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Rebel Golf Foundation takes care of everything else. "From where we were to where we've gone, it's pretty incredible," Knight said.
"And along the way we've won three national titles (the 1998 team title, and individual championships for Warren Schutte in 1991 and Ryan Moore in 2004) and had numerous All-Americans," he said, pointing at his office walls.
In addition to Scott's Masters win, Tour rookie Derek Ernst, a 2012 graduate, this year captured the 20th PGA Tour win for a former 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ golfer.
The worldwide visibility 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's PGA pros bring makes Knight's recruiting job easier. In 1995, when Tiger Woods was looking at college offers, he whittled 114 suitors down to three: Stanford, Arizona State, and 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. While Woods eventually chose Stanford, Knight said 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ got a boost from the association.
"Even though we didn't get him, the publicity we got was incredible," he said. "To this day, people still link us to probably one of the greatest amateurs ever -- until Ryan Moore came along."
Moore's 2004 season is arguably the most impressive ever by an amateur. Along with his NCAA title, Moore won the U.S. Amateur, the Western Amateur, and the U.S. Amateur Public Links (for the second time).
Knight's 2013 team, ranked 24th in the Oct. 28 NCAA poll, is a young one. The Rebels wrapped up the fall season with an eighth place finish in a tournament in Florida. Two sophomores and a freshman were among the starters.
When the season resumes for 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ -- they travel to Hawaii for a tournament in February before hosting the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters March 7-9 -- Knight will be out on the links, walking with players during tournaments. Making suggestions. Fine-tuning swings. Coaching.
On practice days, these young players will be running laps, likely dreaming of their own Masters win.
