Early-to-rise Rebels take aim at national berth

Adam Candee

Wednesday, May 5, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

Here are the five UNLV golfers set to compete at the NCAA East Regional in Florida this week:

At least Missy Ringler rewarded her players for answering a 4 a.m. wake-up call.

The UNLV women's golf coach is just trying to acclimate her players to the time change after making a cross-country trip Monday to Florida for the NCAA East Regional tournament. That meant a rude awakening Tuesday at 7 a.m. Eastern time -- or what amounts to 4 a.m. in Las Vegas -- for the Rebels.

The team went to breakfast and then out to practice, getting in nine holes and some short game work at Orange County National before heading out for a little bit of stress relief at Universal Studios in Orlando. The Rebels were set to rise early again today for their official practice round on the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

They need the preparation for their 9 a.m. tee time in Thursday's opening round of the three-day tournament. Only the Rebels and No. 3 seed Oklahoma State came from west of the Mississippi River to the East Regional.

"It's fairly early again, but it's not too bad," Ringler said.

Ranked 17th in the nation by Golfweek, the Rebels are seeded fifth in the East Regional that features a number of tough teams including top-ranked Duke. The top eight teams and the top two individuals from non-qualifying teams will earn spots in the NCAA championships, set to be played at Auburn in Opelika, Ala., from May 18-21.

Even with four teams seeded in front of them, the Rebels believe that only the Blue Devils are playing better golf than they are right now.

"The way we're playing this spring, I feel like we're the second-best team here," Ringler said.

UNLV won the Mountain West Conference tournament to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Regional round. The Rebels also won their previous tournament at the BYU Dixie Classic and did not finish lower than fifth in any spring event.

UNLV sophomore Sunny Oh also claimed the individual title in both of the Rebels' past two tournaments, helping her to MWC Player of the Year honors. Oh also qualified for and made the cut in the LPGA Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas in mid-April.

Freshman Seema Sadekar is also playing well out of the No. 2 spot and Ringler feels that the consistent play from Elena Kurokawa, Hwanhee Lee and Young Pak in the final three positions is the key to UNLV's spring success.

"It's great because they have so much confidence and that's the best thing going into a golf tournament," Ringler said.

That confidence is new to the third-year program, which is seeking its first spot at nationals. UNLV played in the West Regional as the No. 10 seed last season after earning an at-large berth. Oh won that tournament and went to nationals at Purdue, but the Rebels did not qualify as a team.

After this strong season, Ringler cannot envision her team finishing outside the top eight in the East Regional.

"We wouldn't want to even think that," Ringler said. "It would be a huge disappointment to everybody."

"Our sights and our goals are better than that."