No Place Like Home for Cavaliers

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In a typical year, the University of Virginia women’s golf team would be on the road when the NCAA regionals began, and that would be fine with the Cavaliers. If they were still in Charlottesville, that would mean they had failed to qualify for a regional.

But this is not a typical year. For the first time in the 22-year history of the program, Virginia is hosting an NCAA regional. UVA is seeded No. 2 among the 12 teams that will compete in the 54-hole event, which starts Monday and runs through Wednesday at Birdwood Golf Course.

“We’re really excited,” said senior Amanda Sambach, a four-time All-ACC selection. “One of the biggest parts about being home is that we have familiar faces all around us. That just adds another level of comfort and familiarity that I think will be really beneficial to our golf.”

In all, 72 teams will compete at six regional sites around the country. Each regional site consists of 12 teams and six individuals not on those teams. The five teams that finish with the lowest 54-hole scores, as well as the low individual not on those teams, will advance to the NCAA Championships, which begin May 16 in Carlsbad, Calif.

Virginia is one of 12 teams from the ACC that will be playing in regionals, along with Florida State, Stanford, California, Duke, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, SMU, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. That’s tied for the most regional bids by a conference this spring.

A year ago, led by Sambach, UVA finished third at the regional in Cle Elum, Wash., to advance to the NCAA Championships for the 14^th time in program history.

The Cavaliers enter the Charlottesville Regional ranked No. 11 nationally. They tied for second in stroke play at last month’s ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C., where they lost 3-2 to Cal in the first round of match play.

“That certainly made them hungrier,” Virginia head coach Ria Scott said of her players. “We lost to a hot Cal team that day. I think we were 8-under in that match and Cal was 10-under, so they might have beaten anybody that morning, to be really honest. But I think we certainly feel like we have something to prove here. I like our team’s chances when we’re in that position, in terms of having a little chip on our shoulder.”

The field at the Charlottesville Regional, in order of seed, comprises No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 UCF, No. 7 College of Charleston, No. 8 NC State, No. 9 BYU, No. 10 Princeton, No. 11 Richmond and No. 12 Radford.

None of the other teams is as familiar as UVA with Birdwood, and that should help her golfers, Scott said.

“Absolutely,” she said. “There’s that comfort of knowing Birdwood, but let’s not get too comfortable. That’s kind of the message that we’ve sent this week. We still want to treat everything like we would approach any other tournament. Be specific about your yardages. We’re not going to be sloppy about our planning. We also know that a lot of us have had experience on other courses where [conditions changed dramatically].”

Scott came to UVA in July 2018 after nine seasons as head coach at Oregon. In 2016, the Ducks hosted the NCAA Championships at Eugene Country Club.

“We played that course soft and wet the entire year,” Scott said, “and you get to nationals and it’s firm and fast.”

The NCAA announced in April 2022 that UVA would host a regional this year. To be awarded a regional, Scott said, a site must “show that your golf course is ready for it. You have to show that your lodging and the community are too. So it’s not just automatically assigned to the top seeds [as in other sports].”

Three years of planning and preparation have followed the NCAA’s announcement. The tournament director is Ana D’Ambrogi, and Marissa Majors is the volunteer coordinator. D’Ambrogi is director of event & facility management for UVA Athletics, and Majors spent four years on Scott’s staff at Virginia. Their expertise will allow Scott to concentrate on coaching during the regional.

“I’ve got some good hands helping out,” Scott said. “I have an eye for the details, so sometimes it is hard for me to look away and just focus on my team. I know that’ll be a real challenge, but obviously I’m going to do that as much as possible.”

This will be the second tournament the Hoos have hosted at Birdwood in 2024-25. In September, Virginia finished second among 12 teams at the Cavalier Regional Preview, a test run for next week’s event at Birdwood.

“We don’t host very much,” Scott said. “So getting to have a home tournament and a regional in the same year is big for us.”

The Cavaliers’ lineup includes graduate students Chloe Schiavone and Rebecca Skoler and seniors Megan Propeck and Sambach. That group has been instrumental in the continued success of the program, and giving those departing players an opportunity to play in an NCAA regional at Birdwood is “really, really special,” Scott said.

Temperatures are expected to reach the upper 70s in Charlottesville during the regional. Conditions were markedly different last year in Cle Elum, which is about 80 miles southeast of Seattle. The Cavaliers bundled up in winter gear during the regional.

“On the drive over there, we passed the ski resort, and there were snow flurries,” Scott recalled, laughing.

A city of about 2,200 residents, Cle Elum has an elevation of 1,909 feet.

“Super small town, with limited restaurants,” Scott said. “The only spectators there were family. Hopefully with this being a college town, we’ll get some UVA people that want to come out and watch.”

Sambach is counting on it. “I’m excited for that,” she said. “It’ll be fun.”

Admission to the regional is free, as is parking, which is available on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the Boar’s Head Resort. Play begins at 8 a.m. each day.

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