Virginia Women's Golf Clinches Berth in 2023 NCAA Championships

UVA shot a program-record 10-under-par in the final round on Wednesday to place fourth in the NCAA Westfield Regional

Virginia Athletics

The Virginia women's golf team is bound for the NCAA Championships. 

With their season on the line, the Cavaliers delivered one of their finest team performances of the season, shooting 10-under 278 in the final round of the NCAA Westfield Regional on Wednesday at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana. That brilliant team round solidified UVA's fourth-place finish in the team standings, clinching one of only five bids from the Westfield Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

UVA opened the regional in a tie for sixth place after shooting 1-under 287 on Monday. Amanda Sambach recorded a pair of eagles and finished 3-under par, but she was the only Cavalier to shoot under par in the first round of the regional. 

On Tuesday, Virginia moved up into a tie for fourth place behind a school-record performance from Sambach, who did not have a single bogey and notched six birdies to shoot a 6-under 66, breaking the UVA program record for lowest single-round score at an NCAA Regional. Virginia shot 4-under 284 as a team in the second round and stood at -5 entering the final day, tied with Tulsa for fourth place and just three strokes ahead of Iowa State and Xavier for the final spot in the top five. 

Sambach delivered another solid showing on Wednesday, shooting a 4-under 68 to bring her three-round score to a 13-under 203, finishing tied for first place on the individual leaderboards with Mississippi State's Julia Lopez Ramirez, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the country. Her 54-hole score was the lowest ever recorded by a Cavalier at an NCAA Regional and she missed the UVA program record for overall 54-hole score by just one stroke. Sambach became the just the third Cavalier to finish first at an NCAA Regional and the first to do so since Elizabeth Szokol in 2016. 

Crucially, Sambach was not alone on Wednesday, as both Celeste Valinho and Megan Propeck matched Sambach with a 4-under 68 for the final round. Valinho moved up six positions on the final day and finished tied for 13th on the individual leaderboards at 4-under 212, while Propeck was 4-under 214, improving 12 positions in the third round to finish tied for 21st. Rebecca Skoler was 37th at 221 and Jennifer Cleary finished 52nd at 226. 

The Cavaliers shot a season-best 10-under 278 during Wednesday’s final round for a three-day total of 15-under 849. Virginia’s single-round team score on Wednesday and 54-hole score at the Westfield Regional were the best for an NCAA Regional in program history. UVA placed fourth at -15, edging fifth-place Tulsa (-9) by six strokes and trailing only third-place Vanderbilt (-16), runner-up Oregon State (-17), and the Westfield Regional Champion Mississippi State (-19). Mississippi State, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and Tulsa will each advance to the NCAA Championships. 

Virginia advances to make its 13th appearance at the NCAA Championships and the Cavaliers will look to improve on their 15th-place finish at NCAAs last season. The 2023 NCAA Women's Golf Championships will take place May 19th-24th at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

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