Ria Scott
Scott’s UVA Highlights
• Lead UVA to Six NCAA Appearances
• Four Tournament Victories
• Palmer Cup Coach in 2019 & 2020
• 2023 ACC Individual Champion
The 2024-25 season marks the seventh year Ria Scott leads the Virginia program. During the 2023-24 season, the Cavaliers’ accomplishments included a third-place finish at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season. Scott was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s watch list for the 2023-24 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride.
During her tenure at UVA, she has made the Cavaliers regulars in the postseason while achieving outstanding academic accomplishments and developing players to ACC Championships and All-America standing.
In 2023-24, Scott led the Cavaliers to five top-three finishes and saw All-American Amanda Sambach rank in the top-10 of the national individual rankings all season. Sambach won Toledo’s Glass City Invitational and was runner-up at the ACC Championships, her third top-three finish at the event in as many years. Sambach made her fourth appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, finishing 14th, and was named to the U.S. Palmer Cup team for the second straight year.
In addition to finishing third at the NCAA Regional, the Cavaliers reached the match play portion of the ACC Championships, losing in the semifinals.
The 2022-23 season marked the team’s 17th consecutive berth into NCAA play in 20 seasons of the program’s history. Last year’s squad recorded the most under par team rounds in school history (11) and finished the season with the best stroke average in school history (291.10). The team was led by All-American Amanda Sambach who won the ACC Championship, the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and the NCAA Westfield Regional. Sambach also helped Team USA win the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup.
In the 2021-22 season, the Cavaliers posted a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships where All-American graduate student Beth Lillie finished ninth for the second consecutive season. As a team, the Cavaliers finished the season ranked No. 9 nationally on Golfstat.
Scott’s teams have made Match Play in every year of its existence in the ACC Championship, competing in the Semifinals in 2021, 2022, and Finals in 2023.
Under her leadership, players have been recognized as WGCA All-Americans (four), Golfweek All-Americans (three), and earned seven All-ACC honors. The team has won four tournament team titles and have set the school record for single-season team scoring average two times (2021, 2023).
Scott’s teams have also been honored for outstanding academic standing, with 22 student-athletes earning WGCA All-America Scholar honors in the past five seasons, bringing the total to 44 in the 20 years of the program. In 2023, UVA placed six on the All-ACC Academic Team, matching the most of any ACC School.
During Scott’s time, the Cavaliers have enjoyed tremendous upgrades in facilities. UVA now calls the Dean Family Golf Performance Center home. It is located on Birdwood Golf Course at Boar’s Head Resort, reopening in July of 2020 following an 18-month redesign by Davis Love Golf Design. This has positioned UVA as one of the top collegiate courses and facilities in the nation.
Coach Scott has been recognized by the Virginia Sports Information Directors as the state’s Women’s Golf Coach of the Year in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Scott, a native of the Philippines, teamed with the University of Washington’s Alan Murray to lead the International squad to a victory at the 2020 Palmer Cup. She also served as an assistant coach for the International team at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup, helping that squad to a victory against its USA counterparts.
During her time at the University of Oregon, Scott guided the Ducks to NCAA postseason play in all nine of her seasons in Eugene. Prior to her arrival, Oregon hadn’t advanced to the NCAA Finals in 10 straight years. Under Scott’s guidance, the Ducks made a habit of being ranked in the top 25. Oregon’s tie for fifth place at the 2016 NCAA Championships marked the best postseason performance in the program’s history.
Scott’s teams produced seven of the top eight season scoring averages in school history, and each player in Oregon’s top-10 season scoring average category was coached by her. She coached Caroline Inglis, now on the LPGA Tour, to Oregon’s first individual Pac-12 Championship in 2015.
Scott joined the Oregon staff in 2009 after a two-year stint as the head coach at the University of San Francisco. During her second season with the Dons, Scott was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year as her team captured two tournament wins and spent most of the spring ranked in Golfstat’s top-30.
Before becoming a coach, Scott played professionally around the world. Her professional highlights include appearances in the 2006 Women’s World Cup in South Africa and the 2004 US Women’s Open. Scott was the first woman to play in an Asian PGA event, competing in the 2004 DHL Philippine Open.
As a student-athlete at the University of California, she led the Bears to the 2001, 2002, and 2003 NCAA Championships and was a 2003 All-Pac-10 and 2002 All-Region honoree. As a senior co-captain in her final season, she helped the Bears win a school-record seven tournaments, capture Pac-10 and NCAA Regional titles, and rank as high as second nationally. The two-time Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention selection also won the 2003 Anna Espenschade Award, presented to the top graduating female student-athlete at Cal.
As a prep, the Philippines native started the golf program at James Logan High School in Union City, Calif., where she captained the boys’ team her final three years. She won the 1997 California Junior Girls Championship at Pebble Beach.
Among various national and international events, she qualified for six USGA Championships – one US Women’s Open, three US Women’s Amateurs, and two US Girls Juniors. Scott advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2001 British Women’s Amateur. In addition, she competed for the Philippine National Team (1997-2002) and earned a gold medal in the 1997 Southeast Asian Games and a pair of bronze medals in the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games. Scott also played in two World Amateur Team Championships in 1998 (Chile) and 2000 (Germany) for the Philippine National Team.
Scott was on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association from 2012-2016 and most recently as the Associate Vice President from 2014-2016. She is a SAM Level 3 certified putting instructor.
She and her husband, Drew, have two sons, Walker and Grant.