May 11, 2006

SEATTLE, Wash. - The No. 15 ranked UNLV women's golf team got off to a slow start in the opening round of the NCAA West Regional, finishing 10th after shooting a 304 (+16) on Thursday afternoon at Washington National Golf Course in Auburn, Wash.

UCLA and Washington share the first round lead after both teams shot even-par (288) rounds on the afternoon. Purdue (289) is just one shot back with Georgia the next closest team at eight-over 296.

Paige MacKenzie of Washington grabbed the first-round lead after the first 18 holes of play, carding a four-under 68 as she had four birdies on no bogies on her round. She has a one-stroke lead over Amanda McCurdy of Arkansas and Amber Prange of Washington, who both shot a three-under 69.

Da Sol Chung and Seema Sadekar both had solid opening round from the Rebels on the par-72, 6,289-yard course. Chung shot a one-over 73 and is tied for 14th while Sadekar carded a two-over 74 and is tied for 22nd.

It was after those two that the Rebels struggled though, as the next three golfers carded rounds of five over or worse.

Elena Kurokawa shot a five-over 77 and is tied for 45th, Young Park carded an eight-over 80 and is tied for 78th and Grace Woo is tied for 84th at nine-over 81 for the Rebels, who are playing in their fourth-straight NCAA Regional in the five-year history of the program.

The top eight teams and the top three individuals on non-qualifying teams from the three regionals (West, Central and East) advance to the NCAA Championships, played at the Scarlet Course at Ohio State on May 23-26.

Friday's second round begins at 7:30 a.m. (PDT) and fans can get complete first round results and follow the tournament live by clicking here.