Missy Ringler said before the NCAA East Regional that she believed her fifth-seeded team was the second-best in the field, behind only top-ranked Duke.
After one day, the Rebels' women's golf coach is exactly right. UNLV sat in second place, 11 strokes behind the Blue Devils, as it prepared for a scheduled 10:20 a.m. PDT tee time today in Howey-In-The-Hiils, Fla.
While they trail Duke by a large margin, the Rebels are eight strokes ahead of eighth-place Florida State after shooting an opening round of 297, good for 8-over on the par-72 course at Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort. The top eight teams in each of three regionals qualify for the NCAA championships, set for May 18-21 in Opelika, Ala.
Sunny Oh, UNLV's top golfer, carded an even-par 72 to pace the team. But on a day when Seema Sadekar's respectable score of 79 was the discarded fifth number, Ringler could feel confident in her team's chance heading into the last two rounds.
"This golf course is really tough, so I'm pretty pleased with where we're at right now," Ringler said. "We could have been a little better."
Elena Kurokawa shot a 73. Young Pak followed with a 75 and Hwanhee Lee rounded out the scoring four with a 77 for the Rebels, the only team attending the tournament from west of Oklahoma.
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