Wednesday, March 24, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.
Parked in second place after two days at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, the UNLV women's golf team felt pretty good about its chance of adding a second tournament championship this season.
And although the Rebels badly faltered with a 35-over round on Tuesday's final day to finish in fifth place, UNLV coach Missy Ringler flew home last night with a big smile on her face.
"There's a ton of positives," Ringler said.
UNLV, ranked 22nd in the country by Golfweek, took on a championship-caliber field at Austin, Texas, and fared well through two days. Facing tough competition from both their opponents and from a brutal course at Hills Country Club, the Rebels wilted Tuesday.
"We have to take it as a learning experience," Ringler said. "The golf course was tough."
"You've got to live with it, learn from it and let it go."
Despite their final-round struggles, the Rebels still finished higher than four teams ahead of them in the national rankings. That fact alone is enough to give solace to Ringler as her young team prepares for bigger and better things in the coming two months.
"This very much was like an NCAA regional field," Ringler said.
UNLV standout Sunny Oh paced the Rebels with a 14-over, four strokes off the lead and good for fourth place. Oh shot consistent rounds of 75, 78 and 77.
The Rebels' depth, which had been the strength of its previous two tournaments, did not fare as well. Hwanhee Lee and Elena Kurokawa were the next highest finishers in 29th place at 25-over.
UNLV finished in the top five for the third consecutive tournament. While that met the goals that Ringler and the team have set each time out, it still did not take away the sting of falling out of contention after being so close.
"Having a chance to win the tournament kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth," Ringler said. "But you've got to move on."
The Rebels head to St. George, Utah, for the BYU Dixie Classic on April 5, where they are the defending champions. They will take on a less challenging field in that event, giving the Rebels one more chance to build confidence before the Mountain West Conference playoffs on April 22.
"I just don't feel like we've reached where we can be," Ringler said.
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