Monday, May 19, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.
Never again will someone be so thankful for a 58-stitch gash from a speed skate.
Yet Sunny Oh, a mirthful 20-year-old freshman star of the UNLV women's golf team, can trace the birth of her career on the links back to a terrible skating accident she suffered in middle school.
Dreams of an NCAA golf title like the one Oh begins competing for Tuesday at Purdue University in Indiana did not fill the head of Oh at 14. Instead, she strived to become a speed skater and skier at the national level in her native countryof Korea, and she came painfully close to doing so.
She is just fine with the former after her two-stroke victory at the NCAA West regional in Phoenix 10 days ago that sent her to the national championships.
"I'm really excited," Oh said. "I'm going to try my best. It'll be really fun."
Equally excited is first-year UNLV coach Missy Ringler, who inherited Oh as one of former coach Kelley Hester's top recruits.
"I think it's very exciting for the program," Ringler said. "Of course, we would want the team to be going to the championships, but it's very exciting not only for her but for our program's future to be able to recruit players such as herself."
A look back over the past six years reveals that a combination of hard work, blind faith, and random chance allowed Oh to excel in Las Vegas.
Oh still vividly recalls the fall in practice that caused her own speed skate to bounce up and tear into her right inner thigh the day before Olympic qualifying began. She proudly reveals the 3-inch scar, an ironic memory of the day her life changed more than she could ever have imagined.
Jae and Hang Oh decided their daughter would competitively ski and skate no more. Sunny would instead take up golf, the unofficial national sport for young Korean girls. Se Ri Pak opened the door to a Korean golf machine with military efficiency
"Eat, golf, go to sleep, eat again, play golf," Oh said of the lifestyle.
Three short years later, Oh became good enough to compete in United States junior tournaments. In another three years, she came to UNLV and ignited the Rebels' second-year program.
In Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or English -- all of which Oh speaks -- that sounds like quite the swift rise through a sport with so many aspects to master. Yet for every step forward, Oh took a step back to succeed.
Sunny's talent evident to her father, once a Korean golf star himself, Oh began competing in the United States at 17. The culture shock and the language barrier quickly set in.
"Everything was pretty hard for me the first time," Oh said. "It was OK, but there were a lot of things different."
She still traveled back to Korea to take exams at her high school, and she also made trips to the Far East to compete in other golf tournaments. All the while, Oh took classes to learn English and tried to acclimate to America.
"I think that the biggest adjustment for her was to learn English," Ringler said. "She's taken a lot of English classes and I think her adjustment has been very good."
As a nationally ranked junior player, Oh drew plenty of attention in America. She would choose between Purdue and UNLV for her college golf, and Oh's regard for Hester won out. Soon after Oh made her decision, Hester accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas and her top recruit felt bewildered.
"I was afraid to come to school because I liked her so much," Oh said. "That's why I decided to come to school."
Oh decided to take a chance on Ringler, and both are glad she did.
"I love coach (Ringler) better than Kelly right now," Oh said with a laugh.
Her fun personality shows through as Oh takes playful practice swings with her head flailing and body twisting while discussing her coach and her team, which apparently could be in line for a second career in modeling if the golf thing does not work out.
"Our team, compared to other teams, is way prettier," Oh said. "When they go out, they don't look like golfers."
All year long, Oh has looked every bit of a golfer. Her three top 10 finishes and 75.38 stroke average lead the Rebels. Even in that success, though, have been harsh lessons for a golfer with pro potential.
"She's had a lot of chances to learn from some small mistakes made," Ringler said.
Don't think any of the lessons have escaped Oh.
"I remember everything," Oh said.
Oh lost in a playoff in UNLV's home tournament in November, then dropped the Mountain West Conference individual crown by one stroke. In between, she lost in a playoff in Monday qualifying for the LPGA Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas.
"She chipped it in," Oh said of the eagle that knocked her out. "It was a par 5, and she chipped it in. What should I do? Go back home."
Hardly. Oh instead learned from her difficult times and roared back to post a three-round score of 5-under 211 at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course to earn her way into nationals.
"It's going to be a good push for her to know how good she really is and that she's up in the status with All-Americans," Ringler said.
Already an All-Mountain West Conference player, that honor might not be far off for the speed skater turned golf star.
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