Men’s Golf: Cavaliers take first place at GCG Collegiate

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The five members of the No. 25 Virginia men’s golf team recorded 30 birdies to make up an 11-shot deficit and cruise to the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate title Sunday in Alpharetta, Ga. The Cavaliers shot 19-under 269, a tournament single-round record, to win with a 54-hole score of 25-under 839. All five UVA competitors finished under par during the round.

UVA’s final-round score was two strokes off the school record of 21-under set twice in program history.

Virginia entered the final round in fourth place, 11-shots behind tournament leader East Tennessee State, which shot 1-over during the final day. Host Georgia Tech placed second at 19-under 845.

Ben James, the 2023 NCAA Freshman of the Year, led the Hoos during the final 18 holes by shooting 7-under 65. He finished tied for fifth with a season-best score of 8-under 208. It marked the 13th top-10 finish during his career. His round featured eight birdies and a single bogey. He opened the day with three consecutive birdies to get things rolling for the Cavaliers.

Paul Chang matched his career-best score by shooting 5-under 211 to tie for ninth place along with Bryan Lee. It was Chang’s best place-finish as a Cavalier since joining the program this fall after playing for the UVA club golf team his first two years on Grounds. Chang shot 1-under 71 on Sunday while Lee posted a score of 4-under 68.

Lee’s finish was his fourth top-10 performance at UVA.

Deven Patel moved up to 18th place overall at 3-under 213. He matched his best single-round score at Virginia by shooting 6-under 66 during the final round. Patel had seven birdies and one bogey during his round.

George Duangmanee shot 70 and was 34th overall at 1-over 217.

🔥🔥🔥🔥 ALERT !!!
Hoos set Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate single-round scoring record with -19 during today’s final round. 👀 pic.twitter.com/prmZkrUodT

— Virginia Men’s Golf (@UVAMensGolf) October 15, 2023

A total of seven of the 14 teams in the field are currently ranked among the top-30 in the latest Golfweek standings.

For head coach Bowen Sargent, now in his 20th season at Virginia, the victory was the 25th of his career.

The tournament was the final event of the fall for Virginia. The Cavaliers open their spring season Feb. 3-4 at the Thomas Sharkey Invitational and start team play on Feb. 11-13 at the Puerto Rico Classic.

Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate
Golf Club of Georgia
Alpharetta, Ga.
Par 72, 7,092 yards
Final Results
Team Results
 1. Virginia — 278-292-269-839
 2. Georgia Tech — 283-283-279-845
3. East Tennessee State — 275-284-289-848
4. Washington — 284-281-284-849
5. Duke — 285-287-280-852
6. Charlotte — 287-287-284-858
7. USC — 286-294-280-860
8. Texas A&M — 282-291-288-861
9. Tennessee — 282-293-287-862
10. Pepperdine — 288-290-285-863
11. UCLA — 288-293-283-864
12. Clemson — 288-299-278-865
13. Northwestern — 286-298-283-867
14. Wake Forest — 281-302-294-877
15. Georgia Tech (B) — 294-299-285-878 

Individual Leaders
1. Algot Kleen, East Tennessee State — 67-68-70-205
1. Omar Morales, UCLA — 68-68-69-205
3. Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine — 70-66-71-207
3. Conor Gough, Charlotte — 68-67-72-207 

Virginia Results
5. Ben James — 70-73-65-208
9. Paul Chang — 67-73-71-211
9. Bryan Lee — 73-70-68-211
18. Deven Patel — 71-76-66-213
34. George Duangmanee — 70-77-70-217