Lady Rebels aim for a top-10 finish

Friday, May 19, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

It took the UNLV men's golf team 10 tries to win its first team national championship, so one can understand why Missy Ringler has relatively modest expectations as her Rebels prepare for their second appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships.

"A top-10 finish would be, I believe, extremely realistic and exceptional for this program," said Ringler, in her fourth season as the Rebels' coach.

But then the competitor in Ringler took over.

"Of course, you always want to go into a tournament and win, and I'm not thinking that we can't do that," Ringler said. "I have a great team. They're very solid competitors, they work extremely hard, and this is what they've worked for all year.

"Our expectations are to go there and try to win the thing but, in reality, a top-10 finish would be extremely beneficial for our program."

The 2006 NCAA Championships run Tuesday through Friday at Ohio State University's Scarlet Course in Columbus - a course Ringler said plays to her team's strengths.

"The fairways are probably a little bit more narrow than we're used to out here in the West and ... I believe that they'll have the rough grown up a little bit," Ringler said. "But I have really great ball strikers, so for us, getting in the fairway hasn't really been a problem.

"I think with our ball-striking ability, we're going to have a big advantage, so it's going to come down to the short game."

Ringler also will have the benefit of having three players on the team who were a part of the Rebels' only other NCAA squad. Seniors Elena Kurokawa and Young Pak and junior Seema Sadekar were part of UNLV's first team that qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2004. They will be joined at this year's tournament by freshmen Da Sol Chung and Grace Woo.

"I think they're going to be able to offer a little bit of experience ," Ringler said.

UNLV finished 21st (out of 24 teams) in 2004 .

Although one of the youngest members of the team, Chung is leading the Rebels in scoring average (72.7) this season, was the individual medalist at the Mountain West Conference Championships and finished fourth at the NCAA West Regional.

Eighty-four of the nation's top junior golfers will descend upon Angel Park Golf Club in June for the 17th annual Las Vegas Founders Junior Golf Championship.

Former UNLV standout Chris Riley, now playing on the PGA Tour, and LPGA Tour veteran Cristie Kerr are former winners of the event.

The tournament will begin June 12 with a Junior-Am event, and the tournament will get under way June 13.