Sept. 15, 2009
FINAL RESULTS
PRIMM, Nev. - The No. 18 UNLV women's golf team tied for seventh place at Golfweek's Conference Challenge on Tuesday in the opening tournament of the season for the Rebels, which was played at Primm Valley Golf Club in Primm, Nev.
The Rebels carded a team total of 300 in the third round for the second straight day and finished with a total of 904 (304-300-300, +40), and they were paced by rookie Ellis Keenan, who finished in the top 20 in her first career tournament. Pepperdine took home team honors, winning with a total of 991 (+17), good for a one-stroke victory over Cal, while Chattanooga was two strokes behind and finished third. Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State earned medalist honors with a 9-under 207, five strokes better than Joy Trotter of UC Irvine.
"I am very excited for Ellis. She is a great player and we are very lucky to have her here," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "We struggled a bit again today, but Natasha (Krishna) was under the weather during the tournament, so for her to play as good as she did for the team was great. Therese (Koelbaek) will bounce back and we will be ready to go to New Mexico."
Keenan, a freshman from London, shot the best round of the tournament by a Rebel with an even-par 72 on Tuesday, moving her into a tie for 18th with a 7-over 223. She birdied two of the final four holes to get to even par, and she improved her scores each day of the tournament, opening with a 76 (+4) and firing a 75 (+3) yesterday.
UNLV senior Natasha Krishna finished tied for 28th with a 226 (76-74-76, +10), UNLV junior Alejandra Guacaneme tied for 33rd with a 229 (73-81-75, +13), fellow junior Therese Koelbaek (79-74-77--230, +14) tied for 36th and sophomore Kristen Schelling (81-77-78--236, +20) tied for 58th.
The Rebels were one of four teams that appeared in Golfweek's preseason poll that made up the 18-team field, and the others were No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 28 Cal. The tournament was played on the Desert Course at the Primm Valley Golf Club, a par-72, 6,108-yard layout.
UNLV returns to the course this weekend, playing in the Dick McGuire Invitational, which will be held at the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M., beginning on Saturday.
