PAUMA VALLEY, Calif. – No. 2 Virginia will make its second trip out west this spring when it competes in the Pauma Valley Invitational at Pauma Valley Country Club. The 54-hole event hosted by Loyola Marymount and the first round set to begin on Monday, March 16.
Virginia will face its most challenging field of the spring with six teams in the top 10 and nine in the top 20 of the Scoreboard powered by Clippd rankings. In the month of March, Virginia has claimed a team victory at the Southern Highlands Collegiate on March 3 and a sixth place finish at The Hayt on March 9th. The Cavaliers have finished either first or second in five of its six tournaments this season.
Ben James, PGA Tour University's No. 1 player, was UVA's top finisher at the Hayt. He shot a 9-under 207 (67-70-70) and tied for fourth on a leaderboard was stacked with college golf's top players.
6️⃣ starts this season
— Virginia Men's Golf (@UVAMensGolf) March 9, 2026
6️⃣ Top 5s
4️⃣ top 3s
Ben James was T-4 this week at The Hayt#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Oukxnbs2cj
Junior Josh Duangmanee played his way on to the Haskins Award Spring Watch List with back-to-back second place finishes at the Puerto Rico Classic and the Southern Highlands Collegiate to start the spring season. Last week in the final round at the Hayt he posted his second 65 of the season, tied with Maxi Puregger for the lowest by a Cavalier this season.
ANOTHER 6️⃣5️⃣ for Josh Duangmanee!
— Virginia Men's Golf (@UVAMensGolf) March 9, 2026
He finishes out The Hayt with his second 65 of the spring, tied for the lowest of any Cavalier this season! #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Ugmi9BR4gH
UVA in the Rankings
Scoreboard National Collegiate Golf Rankings (March 11) – No. 2
Golf Coaches Association of America (March 6) – No. 1
Cavalier Lineup
Ben James
Josh Duangmanee
Paul Chang
Maxi Puregger
Michael Lee
Pauma Valley Invitational (March 16-18)
Live Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/238853/scoring/team
Format – Five players counting four scores– 54-hole stroke play; 18 holes each day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with the low four of five scores counted each round for the team total. Tee times will be begin at 8 a.m. each day and go off in 13-minute increments.
The Field (Scoreboard powered by Clippd Rankings)
#2 Virginia
#3 Florida
#6 LSU
#7 Oklahoma State
#9 Illinois
#10 Texas Tech
#13 Ole Miss
#15 Tennessee
#20 Georgia Tech
Colorado State
ETSU
Loyola Marymount
Princeton
San Diego
San Diego State
SMU
Toledo
The Course
Pauma Valley Country Club (Par 71, 7,311 yards), Pauma Valley, Calif.
Pauma Valley Country Club opened in 1960 and was Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s first original design in the state of California. The course is tucked away in the natural beauty of the foothills of Palomar Mountain, North County San Diego.
The golf course is challenging and is considered one of the toughest in California. The course rating from the tips is 75.7, which is 4.7 strokes over par, making it the highest course rating in the state of California that doesn’t host a US Open. The course only features one water hazard, which comes into play on the par 3, 3rd, and the par 4, 9th. Out of bounds seldom comes into play. The course is challenging because of its length and the large, undulating greens. It emphatically follows RTJ’s mantra of easy bogey, difficult par.
The course is rich in history. Shortly after opening, it became a destination for A-list celebrities, given its secluded and private nature. The course was frequently featured in the top 100 list by Golf Digest throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s and hosted a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf event in 1963, featuring Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Mike Souchack. The event was originally intended to be held on one day, but the course proved to be too difficult, so it was decided that would play an additional day from a different set of tees. It is said that Arnold Palmer loved visiting so much that he wanted to purchase the club and rename it “Palmer Valley”, but the members objected to selling.