LAS VEGAS – No. 1 Virginia will return to Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas for the second-straight year as participants in the Southern Highlands Collegiate, hosted by UNLV. The 54-hole stroke play competition is set to begin on Sunday (March 1) at noon ET.
Virginia cleared the field by 18 strokes to win the 2026 Puerto Rico Classic to open its spring schedule. The Cavaliers had four players in the top 10, including T-2 finishes by Josh Duangmanee, Ben James and Bryan Lee. The Cavaliers set a program record with a 22-under, 266 in the first round.
Of the 15 teams in the Southern Highlands field, nine of them are ranked in the Scoreboard powered by Clippd National rankings, including each of the top four teams in the country (Virginia, Auburn, Florida & Texas). The Cavaliers finished fourth in last year's tournament and James turned in a third place finish on the individual leaderboard.
UVA in the Rankings
Scoreboard National Collegiate Golf Rankings (Feb. 25) – No. 1
Golf Coaches Association of America (Oct. 31) – No. 1
Cavalier Lineup
Ben James
Bryan Lee
Josh Duangmanee
Paul Chang
Maxi Puregger
Southern Highlands Collegiate (March 1-3)
Live Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239597/scoring/team
Format – 54-hole stroke play with the low four scores counted each round for the team total. 18-hole rounds each day beginning at noon ET. Individual ties will be broken by sudden-death playoff.
The Field (Scoreboard powered by Clippd Rankings)
#1 Virginia
#2 Auburn
#3 Florida
#4 Texas
#8 Pepperdine
#12 Illinois
#14 Oklahoma
#19 New Mexico
#25 San Diego State
Georgia
South Carolina
Texas A&M
UCLA
UNLV
Washington
The Course
Southern Highlands Golf Club – (7,510 yards, par 72), Las Vegas, Nev.
A rare collaboration of architects Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Jr., Southern Highlands offers 18 distinctly beautiful and unique golf holes which honor the land upon which they are sculpted. Just six months after the course opened, it was deemed worthy by the $4.25 million Invensys Classic PGA Tour event to join the three-course rotation. One of many holes that had the world's best golfers buzzing was the 622-yard uphill par-five 18th, with its split fairway and 16 acres of land and meandering water and sand. The hole affords a great view of the $16 million clubhouse, where golfers convene shortly after their rounds to take in the scenery and discuss the joys and challenges of playing Southern Highlands.