May 8, 2003

Results

TEMPE, Ariz. - UNLV freshman Sunny Oh shot a school-record 67 and is tied for the individual lead after the first round of the NCAA West Regional Championship at Karsten Golf Course on Thursday.

Oh, playing in the postseason for the first time in her young career, shattered the school's best single-round score by three strokes, a mark shared by herself and teammate Elena Kurokawa. The Rebels' ace carded six birdies and just a single bogey.

"I didn't really think too much about my score today," Oh said. "I just played each shot one at a time and tried to keep focused on each shot. I'll try to do the same thing tomorrow and see what happens."

Oh is tied with Southern California's Mikaela Parmlid. The duo enjoys just a single-stroke lead on a day in which 13 of the tourney's 107 players shot under par.

"I'm not all that surprised with Sunny's round today," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "This course sets up well for her, and I thought she had the potential to put up a low number out there today."

As a result of Oh's stellar play, the Rebels turned in a team score of 298 and currently sit in a tie for sixth place. The top eight teams and two individuals after 54 holes will advance to the NCAA Championship, slated for May 20-23 in West Lafayette, Ind. UNLV currently enjoys a three-stroke cushion over ninth-place Stanford.

On the team leaderboard, the Rebels are 19 strokes behind Southern California, which blistered the course with a team round of 279. The Trojans were the only school in the 21-team field to come in under par.

Kurokawa added some impressive support for the team, shooting 71 at the 6,122-yard, par-72 Karsten Course. She sits in a tie for eighth place overall.

Rounding out the Rebels' total were Hwanhee Lee and Erin Borcherts, who shot 78 and 81 respectively. Christine Hentzner recovered from a rough front nine by shooting par on the back, but turned in an 85 which did not count toward the team total.

"I felt coming in that if we could shoot three rounds of 300 or better, we would qualify," Ringler said.

"I think we can keep this (pace) up," added Hentzner. "There's really no pressure on us, since nobody expected a second-year program to be here anyway."

The Rebels will begin the second round of play at 11:40 a.m. on Friday. Complete daily results as well as live tournament scoring can be found at golfstat.com.