Cavaliers Set to Open Play at NCAA Championships Friday
May 18, 2016
Charlottesville, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s golf team opens play at the NCAA Championships Friday, May 20 at the par-72, 6,369-yard Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The Cavaliers tee off starting at 7:30 a.m. PT from the 10th tee and are paired with South Carolina and Florida State. Those same schools will play the second round starting from the first tee at noon PT Saturday.
All 24 teams and 12 individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play (Friday-Sunday). Following 54-holes of competition, the top 15 teams, along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team, will compete in one additional round (Monday) of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match play competition. The individual champion will be crowned after 72 holes of stroke play.
The top eight teams after 72 holes of stroke play will be placed into a bracket for the match play portion of the tournament, which takes place Tuesday (quarterfinals and semifinals) and Wednesday (finals).
The Golf Channel will provide extensive coverage of the tournament:
May 23…Final Round, Individual Stroke Play…7-10 p.m. ET
May 24…Quarterfinals, Match Play…1:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET
May 24…Semifinals, Match Play…6:30-10 p.m. ET
May 25…Finals, Match Play…6-10 p.m. ET
UVa advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing sixth at the NCAA Regional site in Stanford, Calif. Virginia is making its ninth appearance at the NCAAs in the 13-year history of the program. Cavalier senior Elizabeth Szokol tied for medalist honors at the tournament.
Last year the Cavaliers placed 20th at the Concession Club in Bradenton, Fla. Szokol’s 51st place finish was UVA’s top finish. Virginia’s best showing at the national championship was back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 2011 and 2012. The top individual performance came in 2005 when Leah Wigger placed second in Sunriver, Ore.
Live scoring for the tournament will be on NCAASports.com.
Virginia’s lineup for the NCAAs will include seniors Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake, Va.) and Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Ill.), junior Lauren Diaz-Yi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and freshmen Morgan Gonzales (Chandler, Ariz.) and Anna Redding (Concord, N.C). Coughlin earned All-ACC honors this season after helping the Cavaliers to their second consecutive ACC championship.
The field for this year’s tournament includes: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Florida State, Florida, Furman, Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Virginia and Washington. Stanford won the 2015 team title, defeating Baylor the first time match play was used to determine the champion.
The Hoos are one of 12 teams that competed in last year’s field ââ’¬” Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, Northwestern, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Virginia and Washington.