UVa Golfers Finish Tied for 20th at NCAA Championships
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May 24, 2015
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Bradenton, Fla. – The 10th-ranked Virginia women’s golf team failed to finish among the top 15 teams after 54 holes of stroke play and did not make the cut for the final round of the NCAA Championships. The event is taking place at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
The Cavaliers shot 22-over 310 during Sunday’s final round for a three-day total of 74-over 938. UVa was tied for 20th place with LSU when the third round was suspended at 8:30 p.m. due to darkness with just six teams needing to complete their rounds. Alabama occupied 15th place at 63-over 927.
Earlier in the day, the Cavaliers wrapped up their second round, shooting 31-over 319. That score stands as the highest single-round total in UVa’s eight NCAA Championship appearances.
More than half the field of 24 teams posted their highest single-round scores of the year on The Concession course which features large undulating greens surrounded by bunker complexes. The course’s landing zones are generous, but like many Florida courses, water is featured on many holes.
Sophomore Lauren Diaz-Yi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) led the Cavaliers during the final round with a 3-over 75, the teams’ best round of the tournament. She finished the event at 20-over 236.
Junior Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Ill.) had the team’s best 54-hole total, shooting 15-over 231 that included a 6-over 78 during the final round. Junior Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake, Va.) finished at 238, senior Brian Mao (Folsom, Calif.) shot 242 in her final collegiate tournament and freshman Lyberty Anderson (Chesterfield, Va.) posted a score of 244 in her first NCAA Championship.
“To be honest, coming into the tournament our expectation was certainly to finish in the top 15 and I felt making the top eight would be a bit of a challenge because this team has played well this year and they are the best team we’ve had at Virginia,” said Virginia coach Kim Lewellen. “As a team, we are disappointed but we still take a lot of good things away from this season and we’re going to take that and ride that into next season.”
Monday morning the tournament’s third round will be completed and the top 15 teams will advance to a fourth round of stroke play. From there, the top eight finishers will advance to match play to decide the team national champion. The NCAA individual champion will be crowned after Monday’s stroke play concludes.
Virginia was making its eighth appearance at the NCAA Championships in the program’s 12-year history. The Cavaliers finished fifth at the NCAA Regional in St. George, Utah after winning the program’s first ACC title earlier this season.
NCAA Championships
Bradenton, Fla.
Concession Golf Club
Par 72, 6,468 yards
Third Round Results
Team Results 1. Duke 293-309-292-894 2. USC 297-303-298-898 3. Arizona 300-311-294-905 4. Tennessee 301-309-300-910 5. Baylor 297-307-306-910 6. Purdue 307-302-302-911 7. Stanford 293-323-296-912 8. Washington 301-316-297-914 9. UC Davis 305-304-306-91510. Northwestern 310-301-305-91611. Arkansas 310-306-303-91912. Texas Tech 319-294-307-92013. Wake Forest 310-320-297-92713. Alabama 310-307-310-92715. UCLA 319-318-293-930Top 15 teams advance to final round16. UNLV 305-324-302-93117. South Carolina 308-322-302-93118. Texas A&M 309-312-312-93319. Tulane 314-309-312-93520. Virginia 309-319-310-93820. LSU 309-316-313-93822. NC State 317-323-302-94223. Campbell 315-311-324-95024. California 321-320-312-953
Virginia Results 51. Elizabeth Szokol 76-77-78-231 78. Lauren Diaz-Yi 77-84-75-236 85. Lauren Coughlin 78-80-80-238 99. Briana Mao 78-87-77-242108. Lyberty Anderson 79-78-87-244Note: UVa finishes based on 54 holes of stroke play.="http:>="http:>="http:>="http:>="http:>