UVA stages huge comeback to win UCF Collegiate

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Posted on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, 2:26 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

golfDuring the times the Virginia women’s golf team meets with Keswick resident Bob Rotella, one of the world’s leading sports psychologists and an advisor to some of the professional golf’s most successful competitors, he reminds them that, when conditions are at their toughest, that can be their opportunity to better their competition.

Before Tuesday’s round at the UCF Challenge, head coach Ria Scott reminded her team of Rotella’s message and they responded.

Playing in windy and cool conditions in Orlando, Fla., the Cavaliers erased an 11-shot deficit and exploded up the leaderboard to win their first tournament of the 2021 season.

UVA shot 1-under 287 on Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Club to post a three-day total of 5-under 859 to take home the team title. The Hoos finished one stroke ahead of second-place Wake Forest. The Cavaliers were the only team in the 17-school field to shoot under par during each of the final two rounds.

“I truly believe that the conditions that we qualified in back in Charlottesville helped us prepare for a day like this,” Scott said. “When we got out here today, we said there is no team more prepared to play in this cold and wind than we are. I think they really believed that. There were times our players were playing clubs more than 30 yards what they would normally hit.”

UVA senior Beth Lillie (Fullerton, Calif.) and sophomore Celeste Valinho (Jacksonville, Fla.) tied for third place to pace Virginia. Both players shot 2-under 214 as Lillie played her final 36 holes at 5-under par. It was the Lillie’s 10th top-10 finish during her career and the first for Valinho.

“Beth has become such a leader on this squad,” Scott said. “She’s played some incredible golf at home. She won our fall competition and she was low in all of our qualifying. We’ve known that Beth Lillie has been playing great for the last seven months, but the rest of the golf world hasn’t really known that because she hasn’t been able to compete.

“She’s so calm and collected on the golf course now. Her confidence really spills over into her teammates. All of these gals that are in this lineup this week, there’s a way about them that brings calm to their other teammates because they know they’ve got each other’s backs on the golf course.”

Junior Riley Smyth (Cary, N.C.) had the team’s best final-round score, shooting 2-under 70. She completed play in seventh place at 1-under 215. Freshman Jennifer Cleary (Wilmington, Del.) posted a 10th-place showing in her collegiate debut. She shot 2-over 74 on Tuesday and finished her three rounds at even par 216. Sophomore Virginia Bossi (Como, Italy) was 73rd at 231.

The UCF Challenge was the Cavaliers first tournament of the season. The program did not compete in the fall as part of the ACC guidelines for the sport under its COVID-19 protocols.

“It has been so long since we’ve competed,” said Scott who is in her third season at UVA. “We haven’t really had a measure for the work that we’ve put in in the offseason. I think it really validates all of the offseason work these players have been doing, and just gives them a lot of confidence headed into the rest of the season because we beat some really high-quality teams here.”

The victory was UVA’s second in its last three outings. The Cavaliers won the IJGA Collegiate Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico last February before the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled just three weeks later due to the pandemic.

UVA returns to Florida on Feb. 14 to compete in the Moon Golf Invitational at Duran Golf Club in Viera, Fla.

UCF Challenge

Team Results

  1. Virginia              285-287-287-859
  2. Wake Forest           277-288-295-860
  3. Miami                 277-298-292-867
  4. Kent State            276-298-294-868
  5. Houston               280-281-308-869
  6. Arkansas              273-302-295-870
  7. Kentucky              289-288-301-878
  8. UCF                   290-294-296-880
  9. Iowa State            291-293-298-882
  10. Purdue                294-297-292-883
  11. Michigan State        292-296-299-887
  12. Penn State            284-306-298-886
  13. Mississippi State     286-303-305-894
  14. Kennesaw State        291-294-310-895
  15. College of Charleston 299-297-307-903
  16. NC State              303-301-302-906
  17. UNC Wilmington        304-307-312-923

Individual Leaders

  1. Karen Fredgaard, Houston   70-67-72-209
  2. Lauren Walsh, Wake Forest  69-68-74-211
  3. Beth Lillie, Virginia      75-68-71-214
  4. Celeste Valinho, Virginia  69-73-72-214
  5. Rachel Kuehn, Wake Forest  66-72-76-214
  6. Emily Price, Kent State    65-77-72-214

Virginia Results

  1. Beth Lillie     75-68-71-214
  2. Celeste Valinho 69-73-72-214
  3. Riley Smyth     69-76-70-215
  4. Jennifer Cleary 72-70-74-216
  5. Virginia Bossi  75-78-78-231