CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s golf team opens play at the NCAA Regional in New Haven, Conn., on Monday, May 16. The 54-hole event runs through Wednesday at the Yale Golf Course. Virginia is the No. 10 seed in the 14-team field. The top five finishers from six NCAA regional sites advance to the NCAA Championships set for May 27-June 1 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Cavaliers’ lineup includes freshman Deven Patel, junior Pietro Bovari, sophomores George Duangmanee and Chris Fosdick and seniors Jack Montague and Jimmie Massie. Bovari leads UVA with a 71.27 stroke average and has been the Cavaliers’ top finisher in four events this season.
Format
The three-day regional format calls for a single-round of play Monday through Wednesday. Play starts each day at 7:30 a.m. ET. The Cavaliers are paired with UCF and Seton Hall during Monday’s opening round. Those teams will go off the 10th tee starting at 8:55 a.m.
The Field (in order of seed)
The field for the New Haven Regional includes (listed by seed): 1. North Carolina, 2. Texas Tech, 3. Wake Forest, 4. Illinois, 5. NC State, 6. Charlotte, 7. North Florida, 8. Georgia Southern, 9. Mississippi State, 10. Virginia, 11. UCF, 12. Seton Hall, 13. Yale and 14. Sacred Heart.
UVA Lineup
Stroke Low Low
Golfer Events Rds. Avg. Rd. Tourney
Pietro Bovari (Jr.) 10 30 71.27 67 209
George Duangmanee (So.) 11 33 72.33 67 206
Deven Patel (Fr.) 7 21 72.38 66 210
Chris Fosdick (So.) 11 33 72.91 67 209
Jack Montague (Sr.) 4 12 73.42 66 213
Jimmie Massie (Sr.) 5 15 74.40 67 211
Follow
Live scoring for NCAA Championship will be available online at Golfstat.com. Follow the Cavaliers on social media at Twitter: @UVAMensGolf & @BowenSargent and Instagram: UVAMensGolf.
The ACC
Virginia is one of 10 ACC schools participating in this year’s championship. Also making the tournament this year are: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Wake Forest.
Regional History
The regional berth marks the 25th time since 1990 the Cavaliers have competed in postseason play. Virginia is looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the 17th time in its history. Last year Virginia failed to advance from the Kingston Springs (Tenn.) Regional, finishing seventh. Pietro Bovari led the Hoos with an eighth-place finish at 4-under 209.
The Cavaliers’ best NCAA Regional finish came in 2012 when the Cavaliers placed fourth. UVA has had an individual runner-up at regional sites three times, most recently by Denny McCarthy in 2013.
This marks the second time Virginia has competed at the Yale Golf Course for NCAA play. In 2010 UVA finished fifth to grab the final berth from the site to the NCAA Championships. That tournament featured an improbable finish for UVA. Having completed their final round Saturday, the Cavaliers found themselves in sixth place at 3-over 843, two shots behind South Carolina which had one competitor left on The Course at Yale. All the Gamecocks needed on their final hole, the par-3 ninth, was a bogey from their top player, Wesley Bryan, to clinch fifth place and the final spot from the field for the NCAAs. Bryan was 6-under par on the day as he prepared to hit his final tee shot. Instead, Bryan card a 6-over nine on the hole to drop him to even par 70 and push the Gamecocks back to eighth place. That year, UVA was led by Henry Smarth’s 16th place finish at 1-under 209.