Virginia men’s golf wrapped up their spring season with a third-place finish this past weekend at the Wolfpack Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. completing a sweep of top-five finishes in each of the team’s five spring tournaments.
As a team, the Cavaliers shot 1-under 851 over the span of the two-day tournament, twenty strokes off host and winner NC State, who recorded an impressive 21-under 831 in the 54-hole affair. South Florida finished second at 13-under 839.
Individually, junior Derek Bard, who made his return to college golf after playing in the Masters less than two weeks ago, tied with junior Jimmy Stanger for the eighth place overall. Bard and Stanger both shot 3-under 210 in their three rounds. NC State junior David Cook took home the individual title, shooting 15-under 198 on the Wolfpack’s home course.
Freshman Thomas Walsh (1-under 212) also finished eleventh individually. Fellow freshman Ashton Poole (8-over 221) and sophomore Danny Walker (13-over 225) rounded out the Cavaliers’ starting lineup. Senior Kyle Kochevar (17-over 229) and redshirt freshman Connor Messick (23-over 235) also competed on an individual basis.
Virginia coach Bowen Sargent expressed satisfaction regarding the consistency of his team over the course of the season.
“I thought we played solid, I mean we had a three week break between tournaments,” Sargent said. “We have played solid every single week this year, which I think speaks to the lineup we have.”
Particularly, Sargent said the Wolfpack Invitational answered major questions about the team heading into next weekend’s ACC Tournament. Specifically, he drew two takeaways from the weekend on the whole. The first concerned Bard and his return to the college game, which Sargent saw as settled based on his final round 6-under 66. The second is an issue which has plagued the Cavaliers all season, the performance of the fifth and final roster spot, which Sargent said freshman Ashton Poole locked down with his performance in Raleigh.
“I thought Ashton solidified his spot heading into the ACCs,” Sargent said. “It was a bit of a question mark heading in. We took two individuals figuring out who would get it going into next weekend.”
Although the Wolfpack Invitational wrapped up regular season play for those who will not be in the starting lineup for this weekend’s ACC tournament, each active player on the Virginia roster will most likely compete in the NCAA regional rounds, which kick off in mid-May.
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