Sept. 18, 2009
LAS VEGAS - The No. 18 UNLV women's golf team continues its season this weekend at the 30th Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, which will be played at the University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday and Sunday.
The tournament caps a busy week for the Rebels, who opened their season by tying for seventh at Golfweek's Conference Challenge, which was played at the Primm Valley Golf Club in Primm, Nev., earlier this week.
UNLV is one of six ranked squads in a challenging 18-team field that includes No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 21 New Mexico, No. 22 TCU, No. 23 Arkansas and No. 29 Texas A&M. The Waves took home team honors at the Golfweek Challenge and won the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational in 2005, while the host Lobos will be looking to defend the team title they won last year at their annual event.
The Rebels are no strangers to the UNM course, having finished third at the event last year while being paced by Natasha Krishna, who came in second place individually with a 5-under 214, one stroke behind the medalist winner. The course was also the site of UNLV's best finish at the NCAA Championships, a 16th-place showing at the 2008 national tournament.
""We feel extremely confident going into this event," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "Four of our top five players have had the opportunity to play the golf course and we have generally played and finished very well in this event. Natasha (Krishna) finished second last year and plays this golf course very well."
Krishna will be joined in the Rebel lineup by juniors Alejandra Guacaneme and Therese Koelbaek, sophomore Kristen Schelling and freshman Ellis Keenan. The rookie paced the Rebels in their season-opening tournament, as Keenan finished tied for 18th with a three-round total of 7-over 223. UNLV will also have a pair of individuals playing in the event in junior transfer Mandi Incorvaia and sophomore Bethany Glassford.
The tournament gets underway Saturday morning with teams playing 36 holes and will end on Sunday, with the final round set to tee off at 6:30 a.m. (PT) with a shotgun start. Live scoring will be available courtesy of Golfstat with a link found on the schedule page at UNLVRebels.com.
