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Men's Golf Prepares for East Regional
Story Links
May 12, 1998
Virginia Golf
1998 NCAA East Regional
The Melrose Course
Daufuskie Island Club & Resort
Daufuskie Island, S.C.
May 14-16, 1998
Virginia in the East Regional
This is the Cavaliers’ eighth appearance in the East Regional, and the fourth in a row.
Virginia finished eighth in last year’s regional at Hot Springs, Va., to advance to the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers missed the 36-hole cut at the NCAA Championships, but Lewis Chitengwa qualified as an individual where he finished tied for 36th.
The East Regional has been somewhat of a luckless affair for Virginia though. The Cavaliers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice out of the regional and missed out by the slimmest of margins in other years. In 1996 Virginia missed qualifying for the NCAAs by one stroke. Other close misses include 1990 (7 strokes), 1991 (5), 1993 (5), and 1995 (2).
A look at Virginia’s play in the East Regional is below.
Year Finish1990 15th of 23 teams1991 13th of 23 teams1992 Tie for 10th of 22 teams1993 12th of 22 teams1995 13th of 21 teams1996 12th of 23 teams1997 8th of 23 teams
Driscoll Named All-ACC for Second Time
Sophomore James Driscoll is Virginia’s lone representative on the the 10-man All-Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Team as chosen by the league’s nine head coaches.
Driscoll, a native of Chestnut Hill, Mass., is the first player in school history named All-ACC as a freshman and sophomore. He joins Tim Dunlavey (’89-90), Dean Smith (’92-93), and Simon Cooke (’94-95-96) as the only multi-selections in UVa history.
He has seven top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments this season and leads the team with a 72.64 stroke average for the fall and spring seasons combined.
Driscoll gained the biggest win for Virginia in over 50 years earlier this spring by winning the Golf Digest Collegiate in Las Vegas. He defeated New Mexico’s Doug LaBelle by one stroke as the Cavaliers posted a 10-stroke victory.
Yancey Coming on Down the Stretch
Freshman Cameron Yancey came to UVa as one of the most highly-acclaimed juniors in Virginia in recent years. He got off to a slow start this spring, but has been playing much better recently.
He finished no better than 36th in the first two events this spring before putting it all together at the Golf Digest Collegiate. He finished third with a 6-under par 210 (68-70-72) in an exceptional field as Virginia claimed the title.
The Blackstone, Va., native has been first or second for Virginia in six of seven events this spring. He finished 15th at the ACC Championships with a 2-under 214 (72-72-70).
He is second on the team this spring with a 74.33 stroke average.
Brotto Receives Sampson Scholarship
Junior Andrea Brotto received the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award at UVa’s annual awards banquet last month. The scholarship, named for former UVa basketball great Ralph Sampson, is awarded annually to a third-year student-athlete who best demonstrates excellence in academics, leadership and athletics.
Brotto, a dean’s list student in the engineering school, has been named to the Atlantic Coast Conference honor roll the last two years.
Chitengwa First Cavalier to Play in Four NCAA Tourneys
Senior Lewis Chitengwa has been one of Virginia’s top players throughout his career. And with this year’s invitation to the NCAA East Regional, he becomes the first golfer in school history to participate in four NCAA regionals.
His best finish at the regionals occurred in 1996 when he finished tied for sixth with a 221. He followed that performance with an outstanding NCAA Championships by finishing seventh with a 293 in a talented field.
Last season he had a rough performance at the regional, finishing tied for 102nd. But that didn’t stop him from being the lone Cavalier to make the 36-hole cut at the NCAA Championships. Playing as an individual, he tied for 36th with a 292 (73-71-73-73).
If he qualifies for the NCAA Championships this season Chitengwa will become the first player in school history to compete in more than two NCAA Championships.