Kohles? Victory Ranks Him First in UVa Golf History

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Aiken, SC – Virginia senior golfer Ben Kohles distinguished himself as the winningest player in the Cavalier program’s history Tuesday when he took medalist honors at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate in Aiken, S.C. It was the sixth career victory for the native of Cary, N.C., and allowed him to move past former UVa All-American Simon Cooke (1993-96) on the school’s all-time wins list.

Virginia placed second overall in the 18-team field at 15-over 855 in the team’s first tournament of its spring schedule. Clemson edged the Cavaliers by one shot for the team title. UVa shot 5-over 285 during Tuesday’s final round. South Carolina was third at 863. Two-time defending NCAA Champion Augusta State dropped back to seventh at 874.

The victory marked the second time Kohles has finished first at the tournament, played at the Palmetto Golf Club, the fourth oldest golf course in the country. Kohles’ finish was the 20th top-10 showing in his career. He is third on that all-time Virginia list.

“To be honest, it’s a pretty sweet feeling,” Kohles said of becoming the all-time wins leader at Virginia. “It was pretty cool to do it this early in the spring. I wasn’t hitting the ball all that great out there, but I concentrated on picking my spots. That’s probably what I did best this week. I tried not to make mistakes and just play smart.”

Kohles shared the lead following Monday’s opening 36 holes of play with Clemson’s Crawford Reeves at 1-under 139. Kohles posted a final round score of 1-under 69 to finish at 2-under 208 for 54 holes while Reeves shot 70 to be the runner-up at 209.

Ben Rusch equaled Kohles’ final round score of 69 to move up to a third-place finish at 2-over 212 for UVa. Last year Rusch was the Cavaliers’ top scorer at the event, placing ninth.

Freshman Denny McCarthy shot 72 during the final round and placed 11th at 216. Bruce Woodall was 25th at 219, including a 75 Tuesday. Freshman Ji Soo Park was 70th at 229.

The Cavaliers will wrap up their spring break trip when they compete at the General Hackler Invitational March 11-12 in Georgetown, S.C.

Ben Kohles’ Tournament Championships
Sept. 12-13, 2009 Maryland Intercollegiate 206 (-7)
March 8-9, 2010 Palmetto Intercollegiate 205 (-5)
April 1-2, 2010 Cavalier Classic 140 (-4)
Oct. 2-3, 2010 Gary Koch Intercollegiate 207 (-9)
Feb. 16-18, 2011 John Burns Intercollegiate 206 (-10)
March 5-6, 2012 Palmetto Intercollegiate 208 (-2)

Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate
Palmetto Golf Club
Aiken, SC
Par-70, 6,617 yards
Final Results

Team Results
1. Clemson 286-285-283-854
2. Virginia 292-278-285-855
3. South Carolina 286-284-293-863
4. Liberty 291-290-286-867
5. East Carolina 290-285-293-868
6. Furman 286-301-286-873
7. Augusta State 299-282-293-874
8. Charleston 297-288-290-875
9. Vanderbilt 298-293-294-877
10. Chattanooga 294-289-297-888
11. Akron 299-293-299-891
12. Presbyterian 305-293-298-896
12. USC-Aiken 295-295-306-896
14. Maryland 302-297-306-905
15. Francis Marion 305-295-306-906
16. Georgia Southern 313-294-300-907
17. Wofford 322-295-300-917
18. Elon 308-300-313-921

Individual Leaders
1. Ben Kohles, Virginia 69-70-69-208
1. Crawford Reeves, Clemson 69-70-70-209
3. Ben Rusch, Virginia 74-69-69-212
3. Caleb Sturgeon, South Carolina 70-71-72-213
5. Harold Varner, East Carolina 69-77-68-214
5. Robert Karlsson, Liberty 74-71-69-214

Virginia Results
1. Ben Kohles 69-70-69-208
3. Ben Rusch 74-69-69-212
11. Denny McCarthy 74-70-72-216
25. Bruce Woodall 75-69-75-219
70. Ji Soo Park 75-76-78-229