Cavaliers Enter ACC Championships at No. 5 Seed
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 24 Virginia women’s golf team competes at the ACC Championships starting Thursday at Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, N.C. Virginia enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed in the 12-team field based on the most recent NCAA rankings. The event runs through Sunday.
The format includes one round of stroke play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before match play semifinals and finals are held on Sunday. Stroke play rounds start at 9 a.m. while the match play semifinals are slated to tee off at 8 a.m. followed by the finals 60 minutes after the conclusion of the semifinals.
Virginia will be paired with Clemson and North Carolina during Thursday’s opening round. Those teams will tee off starting at 9 a.m. from the first tee.
Live scoring for the ACC Championships will be available online at Golfstat.com.
2024 ACC Women’s Golf Championship Coverage
The semifinals and finals of the ACC Women’s Golf Championship match play will be televised live on ACC Network Extra. Ryan Burr (play-by-play) and Suzy Whaley (analyst) will provide the call. A championship recap show will air May 6 at 8 p.m. on ACCN.
UVA Lineup
The Cavaliers’ lineup features Amanda Sambach, Jaclyn LaHa, Megan Propeck, Rebecca Skoler, Celeste Valinho and Jennifer Cleary. Sambach, ranked No. 8 in the NCAA individual rankings, leads the team with a 71.33 stroke average.
Sambach was the medalist at the 2023 ACC Championships, shooting 14-under 202, the best score in the 35-year history of the championship. It was also the best 54-hole tournament score in UVA history. Sambach posted a final-round score of 4-under 68 to finish two shots ahead of Duke’s Phoebe Brinker. Sambach had rounds of 68 and 66 during the first two rounds. She was third at the 2022 championship.
Ranked Field
A total of eight ACC teams are ranked in the most recent NCAA Top 50 rankings. No. 3 Wake Forest leads the way and is followed by No. 8 Duke, No. 18 Florida State, No. 21 Clemson, No. 24 Virginia, No. 28 North Carolina, No. 47 Miami and No. 50 Virginia Tech.
Tournament History
The 2024 ACC Championships marks Virginia’s 20th appearance at the event. In addition to winning titles in 2015 and 2016, the Cavaliers were the runners up in 2023, 2014, 2010, 2008 and 2006. Brittany Altomare became the first UVA player to win the event in 2013. Lauren Coughlin took medalist honors in 2016 and Amanda Sambach placed first last year. Briana Mao tied for first in 2015 but lost a playoff for the individual trophy.
2023 Recap
Led by Sambach’s medalist performance, Virginia finished stroke play fourth at 1-over 865, including a final-round score of 2-over 290. In the semifinals, UVA toppled second-ranked and top seeded Wake Forest 3-2. Sambach, Propeck and Skoler picked up wins for the Cavaliers. In the finals, Clemson handed UVA a 3-1-1 defeat to claim the title. Sambach had the lone win for Virginia.
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sports points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. The ACC Championship finish will determine the point at stake for women’s golf between the two programs.