The University of Virginia men’ s golf team soared to unprecedented heights in 2024-25. The Cavaliers won the Atlantic Coast Conference team title for the first time in program history, toppled two past national champions in the first two rounds of NCAA match play, and ultimately came up one step short of full glory after falling 4-1 in the NCAA championship match to Oklahoma State. The expectations for this year’ s Wahoo squad couldn’ t have been higher. They entered the season ranked No. 2 in the Bushnell / Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll and ended the fall portion of the schedule at No. 1, and overwhelmingly so. The Cavaliers received 18 of a possible 22 votes.
The baseline expectation for the Cavaliers is a return trip to the Omni La Costa Resort in California— home of the NCAA golf championships— in late May. After last year’ s near miss, though, just getting to La Costa won’ t be enough.
|
“ Oh yeah, I think everybody on our team wants to win,” UVA coach Bowen Sargent told Golf Channel as the Cavaliers participated in the East Lake Cup in October.“ We were left with a little bit of a sour taste, even though we were happy with our season in general— winning our first ACC and making it to the final match. That was awesome. But they want more. And so do I.”
Four Cavaliers are inside the top 50 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: No. 2 Ben James, No. 30 Bryan Lee, No. 40 Paul Chang, and No. 49 Josh Duangmanee. The fifth spot in a match-play starting lineup could go to either Maxi Puregger, who rounded out the lineup in last year’ s final against the Cowboys, or freshman Michael Lee, who was individual medalist at the East Lake Cup.
UVA will be the clear favorite in the ACC. Other ranked squads heading into the spring include North Carolina( 13), Georgia Tech( 16), Wake Forest( 22), and Notre Dame( 23).
|
The SEC lurks VSGA members can be found on the rosters of Southeastern Conference powers as well.
Chase Nevins( Trump National, Washington, D. C.) saw considerable fall action for third-ranked Vanderbilt and posted his two best rounds of the year at The Bryson Invitational, shooting 68-69 before finishing with a 72 to tie for seventh.
Seventh-ranked Auburn features the world’ s top-ranked amateur in Jackson Koivun. The Tigers also have a pair of high-level freshmen from Virginia in Jake Albert( Blacksburg CC) and Logan Reilly( Loudoun G & CC).
Albert cracked the lineup in three of Auburn’ s four events and posted a season-best round of 68 in the opening round of The Clerico. Reilly, the 2024 VSGA Amateur champion, had his best success as an individual, shooting 68-66-67 to finish second at the Turtle Point Invite.
Georgia is unranked, but past VSGA Amateur champion Grayson Wood
|
USGA( DUANGMANEE); CHRIS LANG( MARRION AND HACKETT) |