May 23, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 14 ranked UNLV women's golf team struggled in the opening day of the NCAA Championships on Tuesday, finishing 24th after the first round with a 313 (+25) in the squad's second trip to the national tournament.

USC has the opening-round lead after shooting a 291 (+3) as a team and the Trojans lead a group of six teams that are separated by just six shots. Arizona State is in second with a 292 (+4), Florida finished third with a 293 (+5), Arizona is in fourth with a 296 (+9) and Wake Forest and Duke round out the top five with a 297 (+9).

Eileen Vargas of Pepperdine has the individual lead with a four-under 68, with Tiffany Chudy of Florida in second with a 69 (-3) and Jennifer Osborn of Arizona is in third with a 70 (-2). A group of three is at one-under 71.

The four-round championship is being played on the Scarlet Course on the Ohio State University Golf Course. It is a par-72 course that measures 6,203 yards and it just finished a major restoration process overseen by Buckeye legend Jack Nicklaus.

Da Sol Chung had the strongest day on the course for UNLV, shooting a four-over 76 and she is currently tied for 46th after the first round. Chung, the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, rolled in two birdies but had six bogies in her round.

Seema Sadekar was next for the Rebels, shooting a 78 (+6) to come in tied for 86th and she was followed by Young Pak who carded a 79 (+7) to finish tied for 100th. Elena Kurokawa shot an 80 (+8) and is tied for 107th and Grace Woo shot an 82 (+10) to finish tied for 116th.

Sadekar, Pak and Kurokawa were all on UNLV's first team that advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2004, which were held at the Lake Course at Grand National in Auburn, Ala.

Fans can get complete first round results and follow the tournament live by clicking here.