CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Virginia head women’s golf coach Ria Scott has been named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s watch list for the 2023-24 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride. The award will be announced after the upcoming NCAA Championships.
Recognized as the highest annual coaching honor in women’s collegiate golf, the Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride is awarded annually to the top coach in Division I, II III and NAIA women’s golf.
The Cavaliers are ranked No. 22 heading into this week’s NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, Calif. Virginia finished third at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional to earn its 14th appearance at the national championships in the 21-year history of the program. UVA is one of 13 teams in the field to be playing in its third consecutive NCAA Championships. This year marks the fourth time in Scott’s six-year tenure UVA has advanced to the NCAAs. There was no championship held in 2020 due to the pandemic.
This year Scott led the Cavaliers to five top-three finishes and saw All-American Amanda Sambach rank in the top-10 of the national individual rankings all season. Sambach won Toledo’s Glass City Invitational and was runner-up at the ACC Championships, her third top-three finish at the event in as many years. Sambach made her fourth appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, finishing 14th, and was named to the U.S. Palmer Cup team for the second straight year.
In addition to finishing third at the NCAA Regional, the Cavaliers reached the match play portion of the ACC Championships, losing in the semifinals.
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