March 4, 2009

Complete Wave Invitational Results

MOORPARK, Calif. - UNLV women's golf finished second at the Wave Invitational, a small, six-team tournament that was hosted by Pepperdine and wrapped up on Wednesday at Moorpark Country Club in Moorpark, Calif.

The Rebels had four players in the top 15 and posted an overall team score of 588 (294-294, +12), which was nine shots behind host Pepperdine, which tallied a total of three-over 579 to earn the team title. Rounding out the leaderboard was BYU (595, +19), Long Beach State (613, +37), New Mexico State (622, +46) and Cal State Northridge (634, +58).

"This was a great tournament for a lot of players to get some experience and overall I was pleased with our consistency," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "I thought we had a good chance to finish near the top and beat Pepperdine, and overall, I am pleased with our results."

UNLV was led by sophomore Therese Koelbaek, who shot a three-under 69 on Tuesday to finish tied for fifth with a two-round total of even-par 144. Koelbaek's round was the best of the tournament by a Rebel, and she rolled in three birdies and 15 pars in playing bogey-free golf to move up the leaderboard. Taylore Karle of Pepperdone took home medalist honors with a five-under 139, good for a one-stroke win over Maggie Yuan and Natalia Jimenez of BYU.

Joining Koelbaek in the top 10 was sophomore Alejandra Guacaneme (74-73--147, +3), who finished seventh, and freshman Bethany Glassford (73-75--148, +4), who tied for eighth. Rebel junior Natasha Krishna (72-77--149, +5) came in 13th and freshman Kristen Schelling (82-85--167, +23) tied for 39th.

UNLV also had five individuals competing in the tournament and Nicole McGirr led that group with a 162 (79-83, +18), which gave the senior a 33rd-place finish. Kasi Lee (81-84--165, +21) tied for 35th, Melissa Mabanta (87-80--167, +23) tied for 39th, Victoria Oros (83-85--168, +24) tied for 41st and Stephanie Whatley (86-86--172, +28) finished 43rd.

"I thought Bethany really stepped up, played well and solidified her spot in the lineup," Ringler said. "It was also good for Therese to have a sub-par round after starting the spring a little slow and Alejandra has played two good tournaments in a row as well."

The Rebels return to action on Monday, hosting the UNLV Spring Invitational, a three-day tournament that is being played at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev.