Men’s Golf: Virginia freshman James has exceeded expectations

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Ben James stunned the collegiate golf world when the nation’s No. 1 ranked junior player chose Virginia over other prestigious programs in the sport.

Obviously, the Milford, Conn., native’s reputation preceded him. James has done nothing but enhance that reputation since arriving in Charlottesville last fall. He continued to add onto that legend this week in UVA’s invitational tournament, the second annual Lewis Chitengwa Memorial at Birdwood Golf Course.

James fought from behind in Tuesday’s final round of the 54-hole event with a 6-under-par 65 to tie Florida State’s Cole Anderson for medalist honors. With birdies on three of his first four holes and getting to 6-under after 12, James nearly pulled out the outright win on the par-4 18th, when his four-foot putt lipped out, ending the individual championship in a tie.

It was the freshman’s fourth win in 10 outings this season and his eighth top-4 finish.

“He’s a phenomenal player,” Virginia coach Bowen Sargent said of James. “He’s just a precocious talent for sure. He knows how to win. There’s an art to that, and he’s perfected it.”

Of all the wins James has pulled off this season, Tuesday’s was the most meaningful to the Cavaliers’ rookie star because it was on his home course in front of his friends, family and fans.

“This is the one I really wanted,” said James, who fired an 11-under 202 over the three rounds. “It’s just being here in front of everyone that just makes it so much more special. Having all my family and friends come out. It was just really special to play well here at Birdwood.”

He would love to have a mulligan on the 18th hole, his only bogey on the day. His tee shot looked solid, landed in the fairway and got a poor kick into a bunker. Still, he made a terrific recovery from the bunker and put his approach within four feet of the flag.

His par putt lipped out.

“I didn’t really hit a bad putt, but that’s golf, it’s freaking nerve wracking,” James grinned. “But today was an experience that will help me coming down the stretch of the season. I can grow and learn from it.”

James came into the week ranked No. 16 nationally in Golfstat’s individual poll. He is second among all freshmen, trailing only Texas rookie Christaan Maas, who is rated the No. 6 overall golfer in the country.

With a mind-blowing regular season under his belt, now it’s time for James to take his game into the highly-magnified postseason, starting later this month with the ACC Championships in Pinehurst, N.C., then the NCAA Tournament.

This first year has been a whirlwind experience for the youngster.

“Yeah, I mean, I had no clue how this whole year was going to turn out,” James said. “I was just a good junior golfer getting started with college beginning in the fall. I couldn’t imagine starting like this. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I’ve really liked the way I’ve kind of learned how to fight for myself, fight for my coaches, fight for my teammates on the golf course, and just really don’t give up on any shot.

“That’s the key. You’ve got to give 100 percent on every golf shot, and that’s hard to do because golf is hard. You get bad bounces, get bad lies and it’s hard to give 100 percent. But I think the key is just always having a fight in you, and it’s easy to fight for those other guys. I’ve got 11 of the best teammates that I could ask for.”