Men’s Golf: UVA in second place through 36 holes at Birdwood

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Hosting its lone tournament of the spring, the Virginia men’s golf team sits in second place after 36 holes of competition at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Tournament. Junior Ben James is in fifth place and is 5-under par after rounds of 69 and 68.

Paired with Florida State’s Luke Clanton (Florida State), the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and Arkansas John Daly II, James is five strokes off the lead after day one. Clanton has the grasp of the tournament’s overall lead at 10-under (66-66) while Daly is tied for 10th with at 3-under after a 73 and a 66.

Virginia had four individual participating in the event and three are in the top-16, headlined by Sam O’Hara at 4-under. Competing in just his third collegiate event, the sophomore shot a 70 in the morning followed by a career-low, 68 in the afternoon. He totaled 10 birdies between the two rounds, second-most of any player on Monday.

Also competing as an individual, Matthew Monastero is tied for 10th and is 3-under for the tournament. Monastero came out an fired a bogey-free, opening round 68, his first round in the 60s as a collegian. He carded 29 pars in two rounds, the most of any player in the field.

The Cavaliers had nine rounds in the 60s between its nine competitors which included a 68 from Benny Haggin in round two to match his career low. Haggin is tied for 16th and sits at 2-under.

The final round (18 holes) concludes on Tuesday with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. off holes No. 1 and 10. Admission to the tournament is free and open to the public.

TEAM RESULTS
1. Florida State 267-274 (-27)
2. Virginia 281-276 (-11)
3. Northwestern 278-280 (-10)
4. Liberty 280-286 (-2)
5. Clemson 280-287 (-1)
6. FGCU 279-290 (+1)
7. Arkansas 286-285 (+3)
8. Texas State 282-290 (+4)
9. Toledo 288-290 (+10)
10. Maryland 283-296 (+11)
11. Loyola 294-286 (+12)
12. North Florida 287-294 (+13)

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
5. Ben James 69-68 (-5)
T6. Sam O’Hara* 70-68 (-4)
T10. Matt Monastero* 68-71 (-3)
T16. Bryan Lee 71-69 (-2)
T16. Benny Haggin* 72-68 (-2)
T29. Josh Duangmanee 69-73 (E)
T29. Deven Patel 72-70 (E)
T35. Maxi Puregger* 69-74 (+1)
T35. Paul Chang 74-69 (+1)
* Competing as an individual