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 August 8, 2007--UNLV women’s golf has added transfer Tonya Choate to its roster, head coach Missy Ringler announced, and Choate will be eligible to compete for the Rebels this fall. Choate, who will be a senior with one year of eligibility remaining, is transferring from Division-II Drury University in Springfield, Mo., where she played three seasons for the Panthers. Choate won 12 tournaments and placed in the top 10 in an additional 17 events in her three years for the Panthers, and she has a career-scoring average of 76.04.
She was named the Co-Division-II Player of the Year and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2006 as a sophomore and she finished tied for fifth at the NCAA-II National Championships in 2007 as a junior. During her incredible sophomore year she also had a streak of six-straight tournament victories. The Rebels play and practice at many of the best Las Vegas golf courses. “I am very excited to add Tonya to our team,” Ringler said. “Her experience will be extremely valuable to our young squad and I expect her to be able to step right into our lineup and be a leader as well.”  This past summer Choate played in the U.S. Public Links Championship where she advanced to the quarterfinals of the match-play event. She posted three match-play victories, including wins over reigning U.S. Amateur champion Kimberly Kim (3 and 2) and defending WAPL champion and UCLA All-American Tiffany Joh (4 and 3).
Choate is a native of Mt. Vernon, Mo., and will major in business administration at UNLV. She prepped at Mt. Vernon High School and led her team to the Missouri state champion as a senior, winning state medalist honors as well. UNLV opens its season on Sept. 24 at the NCAA Fall Preview in Albuquerque, N.M.
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