Hoos Headed to ACC Championships

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April 22, 2015

Charlottesville, Va. – The No. 28 Virginia men’s golf team will play in the 62nd annual Atlantic Coast Conference Championships April 24-26 at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, N.C. This marks the 14th consecutive year the tournament has been contested at the Old North State Club. The 54-hole event will start at 8:30 a.m. each morning.

Virginia enters the tournament ranked No. 28 by Golfstat. The 12-team field includes 10 teams ranked in the top 50 of the current Golfstat standings. That group includes No. 1 Florida State, No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 19 North Carolina, No. 23 Wake Forest, No. 37 Clemson, No. 40 Virginia Tech, No. 42 Louisville, No. 43 Duke and No. 47 NC State.

Virginia is paired with the Clemson and Wake Forest during Friday’s opening round. Those teams are set to tee off between 10:30 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. Virginia’s lineup includes Denny McCarthy (Rockville, Md.), Derek Bard (New Hartford, N.Y.), Ji Soo Park (Clifton, Va.), Kyle Kochevar (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and Danny Walker (Bradenton, Fla.).

McCarthy was the runner-up at last year’s tournament, finishing at 7-under 209. He posted a fourth-place finish in 2012, also shooting 209.

Bard currently tops UVa with a 70.76 stroke average that ranks No. 7 in the ACC and has him ranked No. 29 by Golfstat. Bard was 43rd at last year’s ACC Championships. Park is making his fourth appearance at the ACCs. His best finish came in 2013 when he placed 15th as UVa’s top scorer.

The 2015 tournament marks the 14th-straight year and 30th time overall that the league championship will be held at the Old North State Country Club. Wake Forest leads all schools with 18 league titles and 22 individual champions. Georgia Tech, which has won 13 outright ACC Championships, including the 2014 event, and shared two more, has produced 10 individual medalists, including Ollie Schniederjans, last year’s winner. North Carolina is third with 11 titles (10 outright), followed by Clemson with nine (eight outright).

Virginia has never won the event, but was the runner-up in 1958, 1996, 2010 and 2012. Pete Arend won the individual title in1955 and Ben Rusch claimed the 2012 individual championship.

The tournament will be carried on ESPN3 from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com. There is no charge for admission.

ACC Men’s Golf Championship – First Round Pairings
8:30 – 9:10 a.m. = Boston College, NC State, Notre Dame
9:30 – 10:10 a.m. = Louisville, Virginia Tech, Duke
10:30 – 11:10 a.m. = Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia
11:30 – 12:10 a.m. = Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech

Commonwealth Clash
The ACC Championships will also signify the men’s golf matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash, sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. In the sport of men’s golf, there is one point at stake in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash, the point rivalry series between the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The school that finishes higher in the final standings of the ACC men’s golf championship will earn the point. Virginia leads the 2014-15 Commonwealth Clash, 11 to 7. If UVa picks up the point during the men’s golf competition, it will clinch the Commonwealth Clash title for the Cavaliers. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at thecommonwealthclash.com.