Hoos Start Play at NCAA Championships on Friday

May 25, 2017

Sugar Grove, Ill. — The No. 18 Virginia men’s golf team opens play at the NCAA Championships Friday, May 26 at the par-72, 7,300-yard Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., just west of Chicago. The Cavaliers tee off starting at 2:55 a.m. ET from the 10th tee and are paired with Oklahoma and UCF. Those same schools will play the second round starting from the 1st tee at 9:35 a.m. ET Saturday.

All 30 teams and six individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play (Friday-Sunday). Following three rounds of competition, the top 15 teams, along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team, will advance for one additional day (Monday) of stroke play to determine the eight-team field for match play. The NCAA individual champion will be determined 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).

UVA advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing fourth at the NCAA Regional site in Baton Rouge, La. It marks the 17th time the Cavaliers have advanced to the NCAA Championships. In its last NCAA appearance, UVa placed 22nd last year at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Current UVA senior Derek Bard (New Hartford, N.Y.) led the Cavaliers with a 17th-place finish at 5-over 285.

Four of UVA’s golfers who competed in last year’s NCAA Championships return for the Cavaliers’ lineup this year. Joining Bard is senior Jimmy Stanger (Tampa, Fla.), the 2017 ACC Individual Champion, junior Danny Walker (Bradenton, Fla.), sophomore Thomas Walsh (High Point, N.C.) and freshman Luke Schaap (Potomac, Md.).

The Cavaliers are one of eight teams in this year’s field with experience playing Rich Harvest Farms, which is the site for Northern Illinois’ Northern Intercollegiate which is played in the fall. UVA and UCF both played at the event in 2013, 2014 and 2015 while Purdue was in the field in 2014 and 2015 and Illinois played the tournament in 2015. Northern Illinois did not host the tournament this year since the course used for the NCAA Championship is not available to host a regular-season event.

UVA won the tournament at Rich Harvest Farms in 2014, finished runner-up in 2013 (behind UCF) and was fifth in 2014.

USC, Clemson, Kent State and UNLV all played at the 2014 NCAA Regional held at Rich Harvest Farms.

Stanger, Bard and Walker have all played the course during their careers. Stanger made his collegiate debut there in 2013 and also played Rich Harvest Farms in 2014 and 2015. Bard and Walker both played there in 2014 and 2015. All three players have managed top-10 finishes on the course. The only other golfers in this year’s NCAA field to have played the course three times like Stanger are UCF senior Ryan Stovash and Purdue senior Austin Eoff. Eoff played in two Northern Intercollegiate tourneys and the 2014 NCAA Regional held at Rich Harvest Farms.

Bard also played the course in 2015 when it hosted the Western Amateur championships.

UVA’s best team finish at the NCAA Championships was 11th place in 1946 and 2010. Virginia golfer Dixon Brooke won the NCAA individual crown in 1940, the second year of the championship.

Entering the tournament, Stanger leads the Cavaliers with a 70.73 stroke average and is ranked No. 18 by Golfstat and No. 19 by Golfweek. Bard is second on the team at 71.00. He is ranked No. 50 by Golfstat and No. 42 by Golfweek.

The Cavaliers are one of five ACC teams that advanced to the NCAA Championships. Also making it through from a regional site were Clemson, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina.

The remaining teams in the field include: Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Illinois, Iowa State, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Lipscomb, LSU, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pepperdine, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, UNLV, USC and Vanderbilt.

The 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships were held at Eugene Country Club, with the University of Oregon serving as host. Oregon won the team title, defeating top-seeded Texas, 3-2 in the final round of match play competition. Oregon’s Aaron Wise claimed the individual title with a four-day total of 275, which was five-under par. It was the first time since Ohio State in 1945 that the same school won both the team and individual titles on its home course.

The Golf Channel will provide extensive live coverage starting Monday.
May 30 — Final Round, Individual Stroke Play —- 5-8 p.m. ET
May 31 — Quarterfinals, Match Play —- 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET
May 31 — Semifinals, Match Play —- 4:30-8 p.m. ET
June 1 — Finals, Match Play —- 4-8 p.m. ET

Live scoring of the NCAA Championships is online at NCAA.com and at Golfstat.com.