| Missy Ringler |
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*2004 & 2006 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year*
It has taken little time for UNLV head coach Missy Ringler to establish a tradition of excellence in women's golf as she enters her sixth season as head coach of a program that is beginning just its seventh year of competition.
Ringler's Rebels have won three Mountain West Conference Championships, made five-consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2004 and again in 2006. It is Ringler, the MWC Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2006, who has quickly turned the still young program into one of the best in the Mountain West Conference and brought it to the cusp of joining the nation's elite.
"A program that is entering its seventh year and has made appearances at the NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2006 can only be attributed to the hard work of Missy Ringler and her players," said UNLV associate athletic director Lisa Kelleher. "Missy is a tireless recruiter, technically sound in her coaching and puts her student-athletes' needs on the course and in the classroom first on her priority list."
Ringler's teams have won a total of 10 tournaments in her four seasons and three Rebels - Sunny Oh (2003-04), Elena Kurokawa (2004-05) and Da Sol Chung (2005-06) - have earned MWC Player of the Year honors. Oh was a two-time All-American and Chung was named a first team All-American in her freshman season. Oh and Chung were also both named UNLV Sportswoman of the Year.
The UNLV program is one of the only programs - men or women - in the country to host two tournaments in a season. The Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown has become one of the nation's premier events, attracting many of college golf's best teams each fall. The UNLV Spring Invitational has been held the past three seasons in March.
A veteran in college women's golf with more than 15 years experience as a coach and a player, Ringler was announced as UNLV's second coach on June 24, 2002. She came to Las Vegas from the University of Minnesota, where she spent three seasons as the Golden Gophers' head coach. Under her tutelage, the Gophers managed a fourth-place Big Ten Conference finish and a NCAA regional appearance in 2001 and produced at least one team and individual victory in each of her three seasons.
A highly decorated player, the native of Bloomington, Ind., was a two-time All-Big Eight golfer at Iowa State. She helped led the Cyclones to their first-ever league title in 1993 and was the first player in school history to play in every tournament of her career. In her senior year, she served as captain and earned team MVP honors.
After her collegiate career, Ringler spent a year on the Futures Tour and attended the LPGA qualifying school before shifting her focus to the coaching arena. However, her accolades as a golfer to go along with eight varsity letters while competing in five different sports during her high school career helped earn her kudos as Monroe County's (Ind.) Athlete of the Century, chosen by the readers of the Bloomington Herald-Times. At one time she held the record at Edgewood High School for the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter run as well as the school's cross country record. Playing the point-guard position, she led her team to the Sweet 16 of the 1990 Indiana High School Basketball Tournament. Ringler was also inducted into the Bloomington Golf Hall of Fame in 1997 after winning four consecutive city championships from 1991-94.
She secured her first coaching job in 1997, overseeing the varsity boys' team at Edgewood High School in Ellettsville, Ind., to a 38-20 record. Ringler departed the following season, accepting her first collegiate coaching position at Washington State. She spent two years as both an assistant and interim head coach for both the Cougars' men's and women's programs.
Ringler regained her amateur status in 2000 and has found her way back to competitive golf. She competed in the 2002 Women's Trans National in Lincoln, Neb., and advanced to the championship flight before losing in the first round. As an amateur she has competed in the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Women's Public Links, where she lost in the semi-finals of the 1993 championship. She finished third in the 1994 Indiana Women's State Amateur and sixth in 1992 and 1993.
She won the Nevada Women's State Amateur Championship for a second time in 2007. Ringler won her first state amateur crown in 2003, the first year she lived in the Silver State.
The former Melissa Arthur, Ringler and her husband, Lance, are proud parents of a son, Landon (4). The family lives in Henderson with their niece, Shea (15), and their dog, Gus.
The Ringler File
• 2004 and 2006 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
• Coached two All-Americans and three Mountain West Conference Player of the Year award winners.
• Has won 10 tournaments, including three consecutive Mountain West Conference Tournament titles (2004-06).
• Teams have made four-consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.
• Rebels have played in the NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2006.
• A veteran of college golf, with more than 15 years experience as a player and coach.
