Men’s Golf: Virginia in 17th place after opening day at NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 16 Virginia men’s golf team is tied for 17th place after the opening round of the NCAA Championships Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Cavaliers are making their first appearance at the NCAA Championships since finishing 10th in 2017.

Freshman Ben James led UVA during the opening round by shooting 1-over 71. James was two-under after his opening four holes but back-to-back double bogeys on his sixth and seventh holes dropped him to 2-over. He played his final 11 holes at 1-under that included two birdies and one bogey, James finished the opening round tied for 31st place.

Fellow first-year Bryan Lee and sophomore Deven Patel each shot 2-over and senior Pietro Bovari shot 5-over 75 to round out UVA’s counting players. George Duanganee posted a score of 7-over 77. Lee and Patel were tied for 47th place while Bovari was 105th and Duangmanee was 130th.

Georgia Tech leads the 30-team field after shooting even par led by Ross Steelman’s tournament best 6-under 64. Pepperdine and Arkansas are tied for second at 1-over 281. Only 18 of the 155 players in the field managed to shoot under par.

During the second round, UVA, Alabama and Texas A&M will start at 7:05 a.m. MST from the 1st tee. The third round is repaired based on the team standings. It starts Sunday at 6:10 a.m. MST.

After three days of stroke play, the field is reduced to 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on one of those teams for the fourth round (Monday) that will decide the individual champion. The top eight teams from stroke play advance to two days (Tuesday-Wednesday) of match play competition to determine the NCAA Champion.

Live scoring of the event is online at Golfstat.com.

NCAA Championships
Grayhawk Golf Club
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Par 70, 7,289 yards
First-Round Results

Team Results
1. Georgia Tech — 280
2. Pepperdine — 281
3. Arkansas — 281
4. North Carolina — 282
4. Texas Tech — 282
4. Vanderbilt — 282
7. Florida — 283
8. Florida State — 284
9. Georgia — 285
9. San Francisco — 285
9. Illinois — 285
12. Oklahoma — 287
12. Ohio State — 287
14. Auburn — 288
15. Texas A&M — 289
15. BYU — 289
17. Alabama — 290
17. Duke — 290
17. Virginia — 290
17. Stanford — 290
21. Arizona State — 291
22. Oregon — 292
22. Colorado — 292
22. Mississippi State — 292
25. New Mexico — 293
26. Chattanooga — 294
27. Texas — 295
28. Colorado State — 296
29. East Tennessee St. — 302
30. Baylor — 304

Individual Leaders
1. Ross Steelman, Georgia Tech — 64
2. Mateo Fernandez De Oliveria, Arkansas — 66
2. Matthew Watkins, New Mexico — 66
2. Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt — 66 

Virginia Results
31. Ben James — 71      
47. Bryan Lee — 72
47. Deven Patel — 72
105. Pietro Bovari — 75 
130. George Duangmanee — 77