Virginia Opens NCAA Championship Play Friday
CARLSBAD, Calif. – The No. 22 Virginia women’s golf team will be among the first teams on the course when the NCAA Championships get underway Friday (May 17) at the Omni LaCosta Resort North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. The Cavaliers will tee off at 7:02 a.m. PT along with Pepperdine and Mississippi State. UVA qualified for the NCAAs following a third-place finish at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional.
Virginia is one of 30 teams competing for the national championships and the stroke play champion.
After three days (May 17-19) of stroke play, the field is reduced to 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on one of those teams for the fourth round (May 20) that will decide the individual champion. The top eight teams from stroke play advance to two days (May 21-22) of match play competition to determine the NCAA Champion.
During the second round, UVA, Arizona and Oklahoma State will start at 12:22 p.m. PT from the 10th tee. The third round is repaired based on the team standings. It starts at 6:40 a.m. PT while Monday’s final round of stroke play starts at 10:30 a.m.
Virginia is one of six ACC teams to advance to the NCAA Championships. The others are Clemson, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
The Virginia Lineup
Name Year Hometown Stroke Avg.
Amanda Sambach Jr. Pinehurst, N.C. 71.08
Celeste Valinho Gr. Jacksonville, Fla. 73.04
Megan Propeck Jr. Leawood, Kan. 73.88
Rebecca Skoler Sr. Needham, Mass. 74.93
Jaclyn LaHa Fr. Pleasanton, Calif. 75.05
Jennifer Cleary* Grad. Wilmington, Del. 73.40
* Alternate
In the Rankings NCAA WAGR Coaches
Virginia 22 23
Amanda Sambach 7 11
Jaclyn LaHa 123 178
Coverage
Golf Channel will feature extensive coverage of the championship beginning Monday, May 20. Here is a full listing of the coverage with all times EST:
Monday, May 20 – 6:00-10:00 PM: Live coverage
Tuesday, May 21 – 6:00-10:00 PM: Live coverage match play
Wednesday, May 22 – 6:00-10:00 PM: Live coverage match play championship
Regional Recap
The Cavaliers placed third at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash. UVA shot 12-over 876 including a final round of 3-over 281. UVA was led by Amanda Sambach who finished tied for third at 2-under 214 (72, 71, 71). It was her seventh top-10 finish of the season. Celeste Valinho was ninth (219), Jaclyn LaHa was 13th (221), Megan Propeck was 30th (226) and Rebecca Skoler was 50th (233). Valinho’s opening round (69) was her best score of the season and her finish (ninth) was also her best of the year.
Elite Company
Virginia is one of 13 teams in this year’s NCAA field to have qualified for the three most recent championships. The Cavaliers were in 24th place last season and failed to make the 54-hole cut. In 2022, UVA finished 15th. The 13 team are: Baylor, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi St., Oklahoma State, San Jose State, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas A&M, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest
Sambach Storylines
• For the second consecutive season, Amanda Sambach enters the NCAA Championships as one of the 10 finalists for the ANNIKA Award.
• An All-American in 2023 when she won the ACC title and shared medalist honors at the NCAA Westfield Regional, Sambach has been ranked among the top-10 players all season.
• Earlier this spring she was named to the U.S. Palmer Cup team for the second straight year. She helped the American squad to victory in that competition last year.
• She is currently ranked No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
• Sambach earned All-ACC honors for the third consecutive season this year.
• Playing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Sambach finished 14th for the second consecutive year. She shot +4, 76 during the final round at Augusta National.
NCAA Experience
UVA’s travel roster includes five players with previous experience at the NCAA Championships. Amanda Sambach, Jennifer Cleary, Rebecca Skoler and Celeste Valinho all played in the last two tournaments in Scottsdale, Ariz. Megan Propeck played in the 2023 event.
Sambach was 31st in 2022, shooting +8, 296. She was in 54th place after three rounds in 2023 when the Cavaliers did not advance to the final round of stroke play. Skoler was 89th in 2023 and substituted into the lineup for two rounds in 2022. Valinho was 113th in 2023. She played in three rounds in 2022. Cleary was 70th in 2022 and played in only the opening round in 2023.
NCAA History
Virginia is making its 14th NCAA Championships appearance in the 21-year history of the program. UVA’s best finishes 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. Last season the Cavaliers were in 24th place after 54 holes and did not advance to the final round of stroke play.
Future NCAA Host
Virginia was selected as a host for a 2025 Division I Women’s Golf Regional Championship site. The Cavaliers will be one of six regional sites in 2025 on May 5-7. The event will be held at Birdwood Golf Course, the home course for the Cavaliers.
Coaching Notes
• Head coach Ria Scott is leading UVA to its fourth team appearance at the NCAA Championships. She did so in 2019, her first season at Virginia and again in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• Scott led UVA to NCAA regional play in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. There was no postseason in 2020 due to the pandemic.
• She coached Oregon to postseason play in all nine of her seasons in Eugene.
• Scott led the International Team to the 2020 Palmer Cup championship and was an assistant coach on the 2019 International squad that also won the competition.