Rebels blow through field, defend title at Dixie Classic

Adam Candee

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 | 9:47 a.m.

After struggling through the final round of the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Ivite in Texas two weeks ago, UNLV women's golf coach Missy Ringler took stock of her team's overall situation and smiled.

Save for that bad day, the team was playing up to her expectations throughout the spring season. She said then that the Rebels were in perfect position to defend their title at the BYU Dixie Classic in St. George, Utah.

That's exactly what they did, and in record fashion. Led by sophomore Sunny Oh's individual victory and freshman Seema Sadekar's best showing, UNLV cruised to a 27-stroke victory Tuesday over San Francisco, blowing away a field of mostly second-tier competition.

The Rebels' 1-over final round of 289 broke the school record by two shots, set on four previous occasions. Their tournament total of 12-over 876 is three shots better than the team's previous mark as well.

"This is the kind of score we have talked about shooting, the kind of score we know we need to compete at conference and in a regional," Ringler said.

Oh carded a 1-under 215 to claim her second collegiate victory. She finished three strokes ahead of Sadekar, who a final round of even-par 72. And if sophomore Elena Kurokawa did not have a first-round 74 disqualified on a rules violation, her final two rounds of 71 and 70 would have tied with Oh for the lead.

" Everybody played great and sort of fed off each other," Ringler said. "Seema was playing to win the tournament and got herself to 2-under at one point. I liked seeing them competing against one another."

The victory is UNLV's second of the school year. The Rebels won the Northwest Invite during the fall season.

The Rebels are riding great momentum heading into the Mountain West Conference tournament, scheduled for April 22-24 in Sunriver, Ore. Ranked 21st in the country by Golfweek, UNLV is likely a lock for a berth in the NCAA Regional play beginning May 6, barring a major collapse at the conference tournament.