UVa Women's Golfers Set to Open Play at NCAA Central Regional

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Charlottesville, VA – The Virginia women’s golf team will compete at the NCAA Central Regional May 10-12 at the Ohio State Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. This year’s NCAA Central Regional marks the eighth straight year the Cavaliers have earned a postseason berth.

The top eight schools from each of three 24-team regional sites will advance to the NCAA Championships along with the top two individuals not advancing from a team from each site. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 22-25 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.

Virginia has advanced through the regional to the NCAA Championships in each of the last four seasons and also in 2005. UVa’s top regional finish was a third-place showing in 2011. Last year the Cavaliers shot 887 to place behind USC and Tennessee at the West Regional in Auburn, Wash. In 2010 at the NCAA West Regional at Stanford, Calle Nielson took medalist honors by shooting 1-over 214. She is the only Cavalier to win a NCAA regional. Leah Wigger was the runner up at the 2005 East Regional held at the University of Florida Golf Course.

Regional Lineup
Virginia’s lineup for the West Regional will include senior Lauren Greenlief, junior Brittany Altomare, sophomores Portland Rosen and Elizabeth Brightwell and freshman Briana Mao. Altomare and Greenlief played in the 2011 West Regional and the NCAA Championships. Greenlief was in UVa’s NCAA lineup in 2010. This will be the third NCAA regional appearance for Altomare.

The UVa Lineup
Player Events Rounds Strokes Avg.
Brittany Altomare 9 26 1916 73.69
Briana Mao 6 17 1276 75.06
Portland Rosen 7 21 1594 75.90
Elizabeth Brightwell 9 26 1975 75.96
Lauren Greenlief 7 20 1561 78.05

All-ACC
This year Virginia junior Brittany Altomare was named to the All-ACC squad for the third time in her career. She is currently fourth in the conference in stroke average at 73.69. Altomare had four top-10 finishes during the 2011-12 campaign.

The ACC Sends Seven
Virginia is one of seven ACC teams to receive an invitation to this year’s national championship. Duke is the No. 3 seed in the East Regional while Wake Forest is the No. 14 seed and Maryland is the No. 18 seed at that site. NC State is the No. 8 seed in the Central Regional and Florida State is the No. 10 seed at that tournament. North Carolina is the No. 3 seed in the West Regional.

The Central Regional Field
The Central Regional features eight teams currently ranked in the Golfstat top-25 poll. Top seeded USC is ranked No. 3 while No. 2 seed Auburn is ranked fourth in the poll. Georgia is the No. 3 seed and is ninth in the standings. Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt is ranked 10th, five seed Tennessee is ranked No. 15, six seed Ohio State is ranked No. 16, seven seed Oregon is No. 21 and eight seed NC State is ranked No. 22.

Central Regional Field (listed by seed)
1. USC, 2. Auburn, 3. Georgia, 4. Vanderbilt, 5. Tennessee, 6. Ohio State, 7. Oregon, 8. NC State, 9. Virginia, 10. Florida State, 11. Purdue, 12. Arkansas, 13. Ole Miss, 14. Kentucky, 15. Texas State, 16. South Florida, 17. Notre Dame, 18. UTSA, 19. East Carolina, 20. Michigan, 21. UNC Wilmington, 22. Harvard, 23. Butler, 24. Siena