March 14, 2005

HENDERSON, Nev. - Blustery winds that gusted past 30 miles an hour caused golfers to shoot high scores Monday in the opening round of the UNLV Spring Invitational. UNLV has three players in the top 25 and are currently in a second-place tie.

No one in the field managed to shot par or better as Catalina Marin of USC posted the low round of the day with a one-over 73 to grab the early lead on the par-72, 6,009-yard course at Black Mountain Golf and Country Club.

Marin's effort in the winds help the Trojans take the opening-round lead as a team with a 306 (+18). UNLV and Arizona are both six strokes off the pace after carding a 312 (+24) over the first 18 holes.

Seema Sadekar and Young Pak lead the Rebels and are tied for 10th after firing opening rounds of 77 (+5). Elena Kurokawa fought her way into the top 20 as well with a 78 (+6). Hwanhee Lee narrowly finished out of the top 20 with an eight-over 80. The final member of UNLV's starting five, Allison Chell, finished tied for 69th with an 86 (+14).

Michigan and Pepperdine finished the opening round in the top five as the Wolverines shot a 316 (+28) and the Waves fired a 317 (+29).

Five other Rebels are competing in this week's invitational - Ellen Dow (62nd), Christine Hentzner (69th), Tina Mabanta (83rd), Ayeesha Kosugi (91st) and Erin McGough (97th).

Tuesday's second round is set to tee off at 8:30 a.m. (PST) on the first and 10th holes.

Full results may be found by clicking here.