March 15, 2006
BOULDER CITY, Nev. - Trailing by four shots with three holes to go, UNLV women's golf team rallied to win its own UNLV Spring Invitational on Wednesday at the Boulder Creek Country Club.
UNLV entered the final round with a six-stroke lead and the Rebels needed every one of them, as Campbell and BYU both shot strong final rounds and at one point the Camels led the field by four strokes entering the closing three holes.
The Rebels played the final three holes at one-under par as a team while the Camels were nine over during that same stretch, giving the title to UNLV, its first championship this year. UNLV finished with a three-round total of 879 (+15) and Campbell slipped all the way to third with an 882 (+21). BYU had the best closing round of the day with a one-over 289 to move into second place with a total of 882 (+18).
Shannon Johnson of Indiana took home medalist honors, as Johnson shot a final-round 68 (-4) for a 54-hole total of 211 (-5) to win by four strokes over Alejandra Shaw of Campbell. Shaw carded a 215 (-1) and was followed by Rachel Newren of BYU, who finished in third with an even-par total of 216.
Da Sol Chung was UNLV's highest finisher, coming in tied for fourth with a total of one-over 217. Chung went birdie-par-bogey in the final three holes to help UNLV win the team title, the eighth championship in the program's five-year history. The fourth-place finish marks the fifth-straight time that Chung has cracked the top 10 in the freshman's six collegiate tournaments.
Seema Sadekar and Grace Woo finished with a group of four tied for 18th with a total of 224 (+8) and Elena Kurokawa and Young Pak finished tied for 25th with totals of 226 (+10). Kurokawa finished the final three holes par-par-birdie while Pak closed birdie-birdie-bogey.
UNLV fielded a second team at the invite and Allison Chell led that squad, finishing tied for 28th with a three-day score of 227 (+11) in her best tournament of the season. Kasi Lee, a transfer playing in her second tournament at UNLV, tied for 67th (237, +21), Nicole McGirr finished 88th (248, +32), Chelsea Pendleton finished 94th (267, +51) and Erin McGough was 95th (281, +65).
The Rebels continue their season in two weeks, traveling to the Ping/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., held at the ASU Karsten Golf Course on March 31-April 2.
Fans can get full results of the tournament by clicking here.
