November 7, 2007–UNLV freshman Therese Koelbaek earned the first medalist honors of her career, winning the USF/Richmond Country Club Invitational on Tuesday and helping the Rebels to a third-place finish at the event. The win comes in just the fifth tournament of Koelbaek’s career, and she used a strong final round of two-under 69 to close with a three-round score of 215 (75-71-69, +2). Koelbaek is the eighth Rebel to win a tournament and she is also the fifth freshman to do so. Koelback is a member of the three-person Denmark National team and was a member of their national junior team. The Lady Rebels play and practice at many of the best Las Vegas golf courses.
UC Davis won the team event with a three-day score of 907 (308-299-300, +55), Texas Tech was second with a total of 908 (305-301-302, +56) and the Rebels came in third with a 54-hole score of 911 (311-296-304, +59). Fellow Rebel rookie Alejandra Guacaneme had the lead heading into today’s final round, but she shot an 80 (+9) and finished in fifth place with a three-round total of 223 (69-74-80, +10).
UNLV senior Tonya Choate tied for 35th with a three-round total of 242 (85-78-79, +29) and Melissa Mabanta tied for 40th with a score of 244 (82-82-80, +31). Natasha Krishna was forced to take DQ for the tournament after she forgot to sign her scorecard following yesterday’s first round, but she rebounded to post scores of 73 (+2) in the second round and 76 (+5) in today’s final round.
The Rebels also had Kasi Lee and Nicole McGirr competing as individuals at the tournament. Lee tied for 37th with a score of 243 (80-82-81, +30) and McGirr was 49th with a score of 252 (80-90-82, +39).
This was the final tournament of the fall for the Rebels, who will return to action in the spring with the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona on Feb. 25-27, in Tucson, Ariz.
Report and photo: UNLV Sports Information, Bryan Haines