KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Virginia women’s golf team produced its second consecutive third-place finish to open is fall campaign, this time at Tennessee’s Mercedes-Benz Collegiate in Knoxville, Tenn. The Cavaliers shot 1-under 283 during Tuesday’s final round for a 54-hole total of 16-under 836. It was the third-best single-round score vs. par in program history. Wake Forest finished first in the 14-team field at 831 followed by UCF at 834.
A trio of Cavaliers managed top-10 finishes at the event. Jennifer Cleary placed fifth at 7-under 206, Amanda Sambach was seventh at 6-under 207 and Celeste Valinho was 4-under 209. Cleary and Sambach both shot even par 71 during the final round at Cherokee Country Club while Valinho posted a score of 72. Megan Propeck also shot 72 and placed 33rd at 5-over 218.
Graduate student Riley Smyth topped UVA during the final round with a round of 2-under 69 to move up to place 36th at 219. Rebecca Skoler, competing as an individual, was 29th at 217. She shot 76 on Tuesday.
Cleary’s finish was the seventh top-10 performance of her career. Her overall score of 206 (on a par-71 course) was a collegiate best as was her opening round 67, which matched her performance at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional from last season. Sambach, who shot -9, 209 at last week’s ANNIKA Intercollegiate, also posted a career-best tournament score (207). This season, five of her six rounds have been par-or-better. It was her sixth top-10 performance as Cavalier. Valinho’s top-10 was the fourth of her career. Her 209 matched her low collegiate tournament total.
UVA opened the event by shooting 7-under 277 during the first round and -8, 276 during the second round. The Cavaliers all-time best score vs. par came during the 2015 ACC Championships when UVA won the event by shooting 27-under 837 and last year at the UCF Challenge when UVA matched that total.
The Cavaliers’ next competition comes Oct. 3-4 at the Windy City Collegiate Classic hosted by Northwestern in Highland Park, Ill.
Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
Cherokee Country Club
Knoxville, Tenn.
Par 71, 5,921 yards
Final Results
Team Results
1. Wake Forest 286-273-272-831
2. UCF 275-280-279-834
3. Virginia 277-276-283-836
4. Kent State 284-278-287-849
5. Michigan State 294-284-279-857
6. Tennessee 289-282-287-858
6. Virginia Tech 281-285-292-858
6. Michigan 281-287-290-858
9. Maryland …
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