May 17, 2018

The No. 27 Virginia women’s golf team opens play at the NCAA Championships Friday, May 18 at the par-72, 6,328-yard Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. The Cavaliers tee off starting at 8:36 a.m. CST from the 10th tee and are paired with Louisville and Baylor. Those same schools will play the second round starting from the first tee at 1:21 p.m. CST 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).

UVA advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing second at the NCAA Regional site in Madison, Wisc. Junior Katharine Patrick (Houston, Texas) and freshman Beth Lillie (Fullerton, Calif.) tied for seventh place to lead the Cavaliers. Virginia is making its 10th appearance at the NCAAs in the 15-year history of the program.

In 2016, in UVA’s last NCAA Championships appearance, the Cavaliers finished fifth in stroke play to advance to the team match play portion of the event for the first time. Eventual national champion Washington defeated UVA 3-1-1 in the quarterfinal round of match play.

UVA’s current lineup includes two players with previous experience at the NCAA Championships. Juniors Anna Redding (Concord, N.C.) and Morgan Gonzales (Chandler, Ariz.) tied for 53rd at the 2016 NCAAs played in Eugene, Ore. They shot 7-over 295. Redding picked up the UVA’s lone win in match play. She defeated Sarah Rhee of Washington 2&1. Gonzales lost to the Huskies’ Julianne Alvarez 2&1.

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.

Virginia’s lineup for the NCAAs will include sophomore Julia Ford (Shrewsbury, Mass.), juniors Gonzales Redding and Patrick and freshman Lillie.

The field for this year’s tournament features: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Kent State, Louisville, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Wake Forest and Washington.

Live scoring for the tournament will be on Golfstat.com.

The Golf Channel will provide extensive coverage of the tournament: May 21  Final Round, Individual Stroke Play   4-8 p.m. ETMay 22  Quarterfinals, Team Match Play         11 a.m. ââ'¬" 1:30 p.m. ETMay 22  Semifinals, Team Match Play           4-8 p.m. ETMay 23  Finals, Team Match Play               4-8 p.m. ET