Oh so close for Rebels at Anthem

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002 | 8:57 a.m.

UNLV women's golf coach Missy Ringler starts a hiatus of three months today knowing the young and inexperienced players of her young and inexperienced program can challenge almost anyone in the country.

And at the end of the break in the schedule, Ringler will add another Rebel to her roster -- she is expecting her and husband Lance's first baby in January. It will be a girl, and the couple is pondering the name Haley.

By the time she is ready to play college golf, her mom just might be the veteran coach of a juggernaut, if the Rebels' performance in the 54-hole Las Vegas Founders Women's Collegiate Showdown at Anthem Country Club in Henderson is any indication.

Ringler's infantile program, thanks to South Korean freshman sensation Sunny Oh, grew up quickly this week, warding off a charge from 14th-ranked Pepperdine to take second place in the 15-team Showdown.

New Mexico, No. 16 in the nation, won the event with a low team score of 15-over-par 880. UNLV ended 24-over and Pepperdine finished 30-over par.

"I'm very excited for the future," Ringler said. "For a young program, this is hard to beat. I'm very proud of the girls, and we will build from this."

So might New Mexico junior Kristi Larsen, a Scottsdale, Ariz., native who won a sudden-death playoff against Oh and Nicole Melton of Texas A&M by sinking an eight-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th. Oh and Melton missed their longer birdie putts.

"My gosh, there are no words to describe it," Larsen said. "It's my first win, and I'm ecstatic ... very grateful. My putting really helped me out today."

Three months ago, the Rebels helped out the Ringlers. They moved from Minnesota, where Missy had been coaching the Golden Gophers' women's team. When that program was earmarked to be dropped, its top players transferred and Ringler updated her resume.

She didn't have to wait long, as Kelly Hester, who started the UNLV program a year earlier, left to coach Arkansas.

Enter Ringler, the proud coach of a first team that consists of three freshmen and two sophomores. Two of those rookies, Oh and Elena Kurokawa, carded 31s on the back nine Wednesday at Anthem.

"I love it," Ringler said at the turn. "It was a great decision for me to take this job. The girls have really welcomed me, and it's a first-class university and a great community."

Moments later, Ringler had a quick talk with Oh. Nerves, Ringler said, rattled Oh on the front nine.

"You know what to do," Ringler said, igniting Oh on a torrid run in which she collected birdies on five of the first seven. It easily could have been six of seven, but a delicate 8-footer on the par-3 14th curved half an inch from the lip of the cup.

Oh nailed a nifty 25-foot birdie putt on 16, but she put an exclamation point at the end of her last name with a deft, 15-foot downhill birdie putt on 13 that slowly trickled from the fringe and, finally, rattled around inside the hole.

"Never give up," said Oh, who has been in the U.S. for three years and had been interested in UCLA, Pepperdine and Purdue before signing with Hester. Oh immediately hit it off with Ringler, too, but she would like to stay away from Anthem's 18th for awhile.

Tuesday, Oh missed finishing in the 60s by bogeying 18. Wednesday, Oh lagged a putt from the fringe and then missed a 10-foot par putt for the victory in regulation, which also would have given her a 69. On in two in the playoff, she left her own birdie putt, a 16-footer, just short of the cup.

"It's disappointing, individually, but you have to learn from things like that," Ringler said. "You have to put yourself into position to win. That's the key. It's early in her career, and she will have more of those chances in the future."