Wednesday, March 3, 2010

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. –UNLV junior Therese Koelbaek finished tied for 10th at the inaugural Wave Bruin Invitational, as she paced the Rebel women’s golf team to an 11th-place finish at the event, which concluded Wednesday at the Robinson Ranch Golf Club.

Koelbaek rolled in a final-round score of two-over 74, her third consecutive round in the 70s, and she finished inside the top 10 with a 54-hole score of 1-over 217 (70-73-74). Koelbaek was at 1-under par through 14 holes, and although she played the last four holes at three over, it was still good enough to finish among the tournament leaders.

UNLV had a team score of 906 (+42), which was just one shot behind Oregon, which finished 10th overall in the 18-team field that featured seven teams in the latest Golfweek top-25 poll, including top-ranked Arizona State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 9 USC and No. 10 Arizona. USC won the team title with an 866 (+2), two shots ahead of Arizona State. Danielle Kang of Pepperdine earned medalist honors with a total of 208 (-8), three strokes better than her closest competitor.

UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said her team played well for two rounds but could not close out strong on the final day of the tournament. The Rebels opened the final round tied for eighth, but could not move up the leaderboard on Wednesday.

“It was a very disappointing day,” Ringler said. “We felt really good about the first two rounds and how we performed. We need to be able to take that feeling through to the final round. I am really happy with Therese’s performance as well. She is off to a good start this spring.”

Rebel sophomore Kristen Schelling was next on the leaderboard, finishing in a group that tied for 38th with a total of 226 (+10), while senior Natasha Krishna was right behind her, coming in tied for 43rd with a  228 (+12). Alejandra Guacaneme tied for 64th with a score of 238 (+22) and Mandi Incorvaia tied for 73rd with a score of 243 (+17). Also playing for the Rebels was Bethany Glassford, who played as an individual, and she was also in the group with Guacaneme that tied for 64th.

For full tournament results, go to www.UNLVRebels.com.

The Rebels now return home and will host their second tournament of the season, the UNLV Spring Invitational at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev., on March 8-10.

-UNLV-