May 26, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - UNLV women's golfer Da Sol Chung did what she needed to do Friday morning, firing an even-par round on Friday at the NCAA Championships toward the top of the leader board with a total of 290 (+2).
She then waited for the field to come back toward her in the afternoon, and that is exactly what happened as Chung crept to as high as second at one time late in the afternoon. But the field did not fall quite enough and the freshman phenom finished third overall, the highest finish ever for a Rebel golfer.
"Coming into the final round, I figured if she (Chung) could shoot par, she would be in the hunt for the title," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "It helped that she played in the morning and missed the rain."
Chung was part of the morning group, which missed a rain delay of close to an hour that made the afternoon hot and humid with some wind, increasing the difficulty of the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University. She started her final round strong, birding the opening hole but ran into trouble at the third hole, a par four that she double bogied. Three holes later she dropped to two over with a bogey on the par-five sixth and that is where she stood when she made the turn.
After three straight pars to open the back nine, Chung made her first birdie of her round at the par-three 13th and then rolled in another on hole 14, a par five, to get her back to even. Chung then closed her round with four more pars to finish at her round at par and the tournament at two over (76-72-70-72--290, +2) and then waited back at her hotel room as the leaders fell back toward her.
Save for a precious pair, that is what happened.
Dewi Schreefel of USC won medalist honors, shooting a final round of three-under 69 to finish with a four-round total of 286 (-2) and she was the only player under par. Jennie Lee of Duke came in second with a total of even-par 288 after she closed her tournament with a one-under 71. Chung was third, followed by a pair of golfers who finished tied for fourth at 291 (+3).
Duke won team honors by 10 strokes, finishing with an 1167 (+15) to win its second-straight national title. USC finished second at 1177 (+25) and Pepperdine was third at 1187 (+35).
The 14th-ranked Rebels finished its second NCAA Tournament in 22nd with a total of 1230 (313-301-304-312, +78).
Seema Sadekar had a strong tournament for the Rebels, finishing tied for 33rd with a total of 300 (78-74-75-73--300, +12) and she joined Chung in the top 35 in the field of 124. Grace Woo finished tied for 113th with a total of 321 (82-76-81-82, +33) and Young Pak came in tied for 116th with a four-round score of 323 (79-79-80-85, +35). Elena Kurokawa was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an illness.
REBEL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
-The highest finish for the Rebels before Chung's third-place finish was 11th, by Sunny Oh, who shot a 301 (+13) at the 2003 championships as a freshman.
-Seema Sadekar, Elena Kurokawa and Young Pak were all members of UNLV's first team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004. In that tournament the Rebels came in 21st with a total of 1204 (+52).
For complete results of the NCAA Women's Golf Championship click here.
