Sept. 25, 2005
LAS VEGAS - UNLV women's golf opens up its 2005-06 season Monday at the 27th Annual Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational held at the UNM Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Rebels, winners of the last two Mountain West Conference Championships, begin the season ranked 14th in Golfweek's preseason rankings, the highest mark ever for the program. Head coach Missy Ringler's lineup is a mixture of experienced players and rookies which will tee off at 7:50 a.m. (PDT) to open the 54-hole tournament, which concludes Wednesday.
Leading the Rebels this year will be senior Elena Kurokawa, the reigning league MVP and medalist winner at last season's MWC Championship. Kurokawa was one of the top players in the nation last season and had a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes.
She will be joined in the lineup by junior Seema Sadekar, sophomore Allison Chell and freshmen Da Sol Chung and Grace Woo. Sadekar is a seasoned veteran, having played in 69 rounds in two years, including being in both of UNLV's MWC Championship lineups.
The final trio is a group of untested, but talented, golfers that will be counted on to play big roles this year.
Chell played in 20 rounds last season and figures to become a fixture in the Rebel lineup. Chung and Woo will be playing in their first collegiate tournament, but the pair were both among the top junior players in the country last year and Chung was named one of eight freshmen to watch this year by Golfweek.
Rebel senior Young Pak will also be competing, but she is entered as an individual and her scores will not count toward UNLV's team score.
UNLV is joined in the 18-team field by some of the strongest golf programs in the country as a total of seven teams ranked in Golfweek's preseason top 25 are entered in the tournament, including No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 8 USC, No. 12 Cal. Host New Mexico, Ohio State and TCU are also in the field and had the final three spots in Golfweek's preseason poll.
Fans can get follow the tournament live by clicking here.
