UVa Men's Golfers In Eighth Place at NCAA Regional

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Radford, VA – The 21st-ranked Virginia men’s golf team moved up one spot to eighth place following the second round of competition at the NCAA East Regional taking place in Radford, Va. at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers shot 9-over 297 during Friday’s play, an eight-shot improvement over their opening round score. UVa’s two-day total is 26-over 602.

Virginia enters Saturday’s final round six shots out of fifth place. The top five teams from the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers are looking to make their fourth straight trip to the national finals.

Georgia Tech continues to lead the regional field after firing 5-over 293 Friday. The Yellow Jackets’ 36-hole total of 582 is three shots better than Duke. Oklahoma holds down third place at 588 and Kent State is fourth at 592. LSU is in the coveted fifth-place spot at 596.

Will Collins led the Cavaliers during the second round with a score of 1-under 71. He moved up to 17th place at 4-over 148. Collins had two birdies and a single bogey during his round.

“Will played really solid today and we needed that,” said Virginia coach Bowen Sargent. “We need two or three more of those types of rounds on Saturday.”

UVa’s Bruce Woodall posted a score of 75 and is tied with teammate Henry Smart for 34th place at 151. Smart shot 77 during the second round. Ben Kohles improved to 52nd place after carding a 75 during the second round. He is tied with teammate Ben Rusch at 10-over 154. Rusch shot 76 Friday.

“It was nice to see the team bounce back,” Sargent said. “Four of the five guys played better today than in the first round which was good to see. We have put ourselves in a position to maybe pick off the fourth or fifth spot. We’ve come from behind in this position before. Hopefully we can pull off another miracle.”

Oklahoma’s Abraham Ancer and Georgia Tech’s Kyle Scott share the lead in stroke play at 3-under 141.

Virginia will start its final round at 7:30 a.m. from the No. 10 tee. UVa will play with Virginia Tech and East Carolina during the final round.

Live scoring of the tournament will be online at Golfstat.com.

NCAA East Regional
The Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech
Radford, VA
Par-72, 7,400 yards
Second Round Results

Team Results
1. Georgia Tech 289-293-582
2. Duke 295-290-585
3. Oklahoma 296-292-588
4. Kent State 296-296-592
5. LSU 305-291-596
6. Coastal Carolina 299-300-599
7. Virginia Tech 300-300-600
8. Virginia 305-297-602
9. East Carolina 302-304-606
10. Lamar 311-301-612
11. Ole Miss 311-306-617
12. UNC Wilmington 304-314-618
12. Yale 313-305-618

Individual Leaders
1. Abraham Ancer, Oklahoma 70-71-141
1. Kyle Scott, Georgia Tech 68-73-141
3. Josh Brock, UNC Wilmington 71-73-144
3. James White, Georgia Tech 73-71-144
5. Richard Fountain*, Davidson 72-73-145
5. Payne McLeod*, UNC Wilmington 71-74-145
5. Kevin Miller, Kent State 74-71-145
5. Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina 73-73-145
5. Sang Yi, LSU 76-69-145
* Competing as an individual

Virginia Results
17. Will Collins 77-71-148
34. Bruce Woodall 76-75-151
34. Henry Smart 74-77-151
52. Ben Kohles 79-75-154
52. Ben Rusch 78-76-154