Men’s Golf: UVA falls just short of advancing to NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The 10th-seeded Virginia men’s golf team fell just short in its bid to advance from its NCAA regional site to the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers finished tied for sixth in the 14-team regional at the Yale Golf Course. The top five teams from each of the six regional sites advance to the national championship round of the tournament.

Virginia shot 2-over 282 during Wednesday’s third round of the New Haven Regional for a three-day total of 2-under 838. That put the Hoos four shots behind fifth-place Georgia Southern for the final berth at the regional. No. 20 Illinois tied the Cavaliers for sixth place.

No. 17 Wake Forest finished first at the regional at 26-under 814 while No. 5 North Carolina was second at 19-under 821. No. 8 Texas Tech and North Florida tied for third place at 16-under 824.

“Finishing one spot out is always hard and I feel for the six young men who worked hard to get to this point,” said Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent. “We had a good look at making it to the national championship with nine holes to go. Being a young team, we should grow from this experience and hopefully use it to motivate us all of next year. We should’ve learned a lot from the week to help us next year in regionals.”

Virginia could not repeat its furious finish during Tuesday’s second round that saw the Cavaliers’ four scoring players complete the final three holes of the Yale Golf Course at 4-under par. Wednesday UVA’s top finishers played that same stretch at 1-under par.

Junior Pietro Bovari was the team’s leading scorer during the final round and for the tournament. He shot 1-under 69 during Wednesday’s play and finished 12th at 3-under 207. Three Cavaliers – sophomore George Duangmanee, sophomore Chris Fosdick and freshman Deven Patel – all shot 1-over 71 during the third round.

Duangmanee placed 15th at 2-under 208 while Fosdick was 25th at even par 210 and Patel was 37th at 4-over 214. Senior Jack Montague, who shot 73 on Wednesday, finished 48th at 217.

Four of UVA’s five players who played in the New Haven Regional are set to return next season. They will be joined by a recruiting class that features two of the nation’s top five junior amateur players.

NCAA New Haven Regional
Yale Golf Course
New Haven, Conn.
Par 70, 6,409 yards
Final Results

Team Results
1. Wake Forest — 267-272-275-814
2. North Carolina — 273-267-281-821
3. Texas Tech — 271-279-274-824
3. North Florida — 267-281-276-824
5. Georgia Southern — 270-278-286-834
6. Virginia — 277-279-282-838
6. Illinois — 273-282-283-838
8. Seton Hall — 275-286-287-848
9. UCF — 276-282-296-854
10. Charlotte — 280-291-286-857
11. Mississippi State — 280-290-290-860
12. NC State — 284-299-286-869
13. Yale — 286-296-297-879
14. Sacred Heart — 309-301-303-913

Individual Leaders
1. Austin Greaser, North Carolina — 68-63-69-200
2. Alex Fitzpatrick, Wake Forest — 66-67-68-201
2. Ryan Gerard, North Carolina — 65-65-71-201

Virginia Results
12. Pietro Bovari — 67-71-69-207
15. George Duangmanee — 68-69-71-208
25. Chris Fosdick — 71-68-71-210
37. Deven Patel — 71-72-71-214
48. Jack Montague — 73-71-73-217