UNLV women’s golfers young, talented

That’s what Missy Ringler envisioned when she took over UNLV’s fledgling women’s golf program six years ago. Now, can her team deliver?

The Rebels, ranked 29th by Golfweek magazine, will find out early how good they are. UNLV competes Monday in the NCAA Fall Preview in Albuquerque, N.M., on the same course where the Mountain West Conference and NCAA championships will be played.

“The importance of playing at the event lets them know they belong with the best,” Ringler said. “It’ll be good for the new players to play the course and help them get familiar with it for conference and nationals.”

Ringler said the course setup should be the same at the Fall Preview as it will for the NCAA championships, so what her team sees next week shouldn’t vary much from what awaits it in the spring.

UNLV’s lineup is set with sophomore Natasha Krishna, ranked 46th by Golfweek, playing No. 1. The New Zealand native was the lone UNLV player to win a tournament last year when she medaled at the Aloha Purdue Intercollegiate after finishing at 2-over-par 212.

Highly touted freshmen Alejandra Guacaneme of Colombia and Therese Koelbaek of Denmark will play in the second and third slots, respectively. Golfweek lists Guacaneme and Koelbaek as players that could have an immediate impact.

Tonya Choate, a transfer from Drury University in Missouri and a former Division II Player of the Year, will follow the freshmen. Rounding out the lineup will be former Green Valley High School star Nicole McGirr, a junior who played her first full season of collegiate golf last year after redshirting in 2004-05 and sitting out ’05-06 with an ankle injury.

“For the first time, I feel like we truly have a team,” Ringler said. “We were missing a little toughness last year.”

Ringler said she doesn’t believe her team will be rusty, even though Rebels players have been in class for a month before hitting the course.

“I actually like it that way,” she said of waiting for the opportunity to play. “We’ve had a chance to get to know each other, and with so many new faces, it’s given them a chance to acclimate themselves to school.”

With three of her players getting their first taste of Division I competition, Ringler is hoping the pressure doesn’t get to her team. She believes it is good enough to get back to the NCAA championships and place high.

“I definitely think it’s a realistic goal,” Ringler said. “Not only is this group talented, they’re hungry. They want to prove they belong with the best.”