Virginia Opens Play at NCAA Championships on Friday

Tournament Central | Results | Pairings

Charlottesville, VA – The No. 17 Virginia women’s golf team competes at the NCAA Championships at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., starting Friday, May 17. The Cavaliers are first off the first tee starting at 8:15 a.m. ET while paired with No. 18 Washington and No. 20 Illinois.
 
Format
The first round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships will tee off Friday at Blessings Golf Club, a par 73, 6,473-yard course in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The tournament, hosted by the University of Arkansas, features 24 teams and 12 individuals who advanced to the championships from four regionals last week.
 
Action gets underway at 7:15 a.m. (CST) for the field, which will play 18 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 17-19), before the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on one of those teams play an additional 18 holes of stroke play on Monday (May 20). Following that, the individual medalist will be crowned. Eight teams will advance to match play with quarterfinals and semifinals on Tuesday (May 21) and the final two teams will compete for the team championship on Wednesday (May 22).
 
The Field
The field at the site includes: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Kent State, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Purdue, San Jose State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCF, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest and Washington.
 
TV Coverage
GOLF Channel will have extensive coverage of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships.  Live coverage begins on Monday, May 20 from 3-7 p.m. featuring the final round of stroke play and the awarding of the individual medalist honors. Coverage continues on Tuesday, May 21, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with the quarterfinals of match play and returns for the match play semifinals from 3-7 p.m.  Coverage culminates with the championship match on Wednesday, May 22 from 3-7 p.m. (All times are CT.)
 
NCAA History
Virginia is making its 11th NCAA Championships appearance in the 16-year history of the program. UVA’s best finish at the NCAAs were back-to-back fourth-place showings in 2011 and 2012. In 2016, the Cavaliers finished fifth in stroke play and lost to Washington 3-1-1 in the quarterfinals of match play. UVA was 22nd at last year’s championship. The top individual finish by a Cavalier came in the team’s first NCAA appearance in 2005. That year, Leah Wigger placed second at 3-over 287.
 
NCAA Experience
UVA’s roster includes five players with previous experience at the NCAA Championships. Seniors Morgan Gonzales and Anna Redding have played in two previous championships (2016, 2018). Gonzales was 53rd at the 2016 and 42nd at last year’s event. Redding was also 53rd at the championship in Eugene, Ore., in 2016 and finished 57th last year. Sophomore Beth Lillie placed 24th at the 2018 championship while senior Beth Lillie was 93rd. Alternate Julia Ford was 125th at last year’s tournament.
 
The Virginia Lineup
Name               Year    Hometown          Stroke Avg.
Morgan Gonzales    Sr.     Chandler, Ariz.    74.90
Beth Lillie        So.     Fullerton, Calif.  72.94
Katharine Patrick  Sr.     Houston, Texas     73.72
Anna Redding       Sr.     Concord, N.C.      72.57
Riley Smyth        Fr.     Cary, N.C.         75.35
Julia Ford*        Jr.     Shrewsbury, Mass.  76.00
* Alternate
 
In the Rankings
                   Golfstat   Golfweek
Virginia            17th       17th
Anna Redding        39th       30th
Beth Lillie         58th       54th
Katharine Patrick  108th      105th
 
Graduates
Three Cavaliers are scheduled to earn their undergraduate degrees from the University this weekend. Anna Redding will graduate with a degree in sociology, Katharine Patrick in economics and Morgan Gonzales in cognitive science. UVA’s Final Exercises take place on Grounds on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Follow
For the complete schedule, links to live scoring, pairings and websites of participating teams, go to ncaagolf19.com. Follow the Cavaliers on social media at Twitter: @UVAWomensGolf & @CoachRiaScott and Instagram: UVAWomensGolf.
 
Regional Recap
UVA finished fourth at the NCAA Auburn Regional. The Cavaliers shot 9-over 873. Senior Anna Redding led the Cavaliers during the final round, shooting 4-under 68. She finished eighth overall at 1-under 215. That was her best NCAA Regional finish in four career appearances. Sophomore Beth Lillie was 23rd at 220 and Katharine Patrick was 28th at 221.