March 10, 2008
BOULDER CITY, Nev. - Complete First Round Results
Under bright sunny skies, the UNLV women's golf team put together its best round of the year to lead after the opening 18 holes of the UNLV Spring Invitational at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
The Rebels fired a four-under 284 as a team and have a one-stroke lead over Washington State, which was the only other club with a sub-par round on the par-72, 6,204-yard course. San Francisco (291, +3) is in third while Oregon and Texas Tech are tied for fourth with scores of four-over 292.
UNLV has three individuals in the top 10 with sub-par rounds, led by Natasha Krishna and Kasi Lee, who are tied for sixth with scores of two-under 70. They are just two strokes behind leader Kelly Nakashima of Idaho, who carded a 68 (-4) on her round, one stroke better than a group of four players at three-under 69.
"We played very well but the ladies feel that they could have played even better," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "The big difference today was that we had four good scores to count. Kasi Lee played very well today, and that was the key."
Krishna's round featured the second ace of the season for the sophomore, as she dropped in a hole-in-one on the second hole, a par-3 that is playing 142 yards. She added three birdies and had three bogies during her round. Krishna's first hole-in-one came at the Stanford Intercollegiate, where she aced the par-3, 166-yard third hole.
"That is pretty amazing," Ringler said. "She hit a seven iron perfect. I have never had a player hit two hole-in-ones in the same season in my coaching career."
Lee put together the best round of her Rebel career on Monday, rolling in four birdies to go with a double-bogey. The sub-par round was the first of her UNLV career as well.
Therese Koelbaek was the other Rebel who finished her round under par on Monday, carding a one-under 71 that has her currently in a tie for ninth. She played steady golf, with three birdies to go with 13 pars and two bogies.
Alejandra Guacaneme is currently tied for 19th with a score of 73 (+1) while Tonya Choate rounds out the Rebel scorecard after day one tied for 84th with a score of 83 (+9). UNLV also had a pair of individuals playing in the tournament, with Melissa Mabanta (75, +3) tied for 39th and Nicole McGirr (87, +15) in 93rd place.
UNLV and the rest of the 18-team field resumes play tomorrow, with teams beginning to tee off on holes one and 10 at 7:30 a.m. (PT) at the Boulder Creek Golf Club.
Fans can follow the tournament live by CLICKING HERE.
