After playing on the road for the entire season thus far, the Virginia men's golf team will return home this weekend for the most crucial two days of the year.
Virginia will host the 18th Cavalier Classic at the Birdwood Golf Course Saturday and Sunday.
The event will be Virginia's final regular season tournament of the season.
"We are on the bubble right now for NCAAs, and we have to beat a few teams here," senior Kevin O'Connell said. "We are in a pretty good situation -- it is pretty much in our hands."
Coming off a fifth place finish in the ACC Championship, Virginia is vying for one of the final at-large spots available in the NCAA Championship field. Although in a precarious situation, the Cavaliers are confident they can pull it together this weekend and make a final push toward the post-season.
"We had a pretty decent showing at the ACCs, but we know that we can do better than fifth," O'Connell said. "We are fine tuning everything. There are no major changes to correct."
In last year's Classic, UNC Wilmington came away victorious, defeating Furman by one stroke. Virginia finished a distant fourth -- 13 strokes off the pace.
Both UNCW and Furman return this year to challenge Virginia. A newcomer to the Classic, fellow-ACC member N.C. State, also figures to be near the top of the leader board Sunday afternoon.
"N.C. State is the team that will challenge us," O'Connell said. "The favorites for this weekend will be us, N.C. State or UNC Wilmington."
Last weekend at the ACC Championship, N.C. State bested the Cavaliers by four strokes, firing an 880 (+16) to Virginia's 884 (+20) at the Old London State Club in New London, N.C.
The Cavaliers fell, despite Brad Tilley's stellar weekend in which he shot even par over three rounds to finish third individually. Tilley, who shot a two-over par 218 at last year's Classic, likely will duplicate that success again this year. With Tilley's performance almost a given, coach Bowen Sargent will be counting on players like O'Connell to be in complete command of their games all weekend long.
"Basically, at this point they know what they have to do," Sargent said. "They are working on their weakness and the smaller points of their game. They know what they need to do at Birdwood."
Indeed, O'Connell is ready to step up to the challenge and ensure that his final season at Virginia does not end prematurely.
"I played OK in the ACCs," O'Connell said. "I feel that my game is coming up towards the end of the year. I am looking forward to closing the season strong."
Junior Carter Henderson and sophomore Daniel McGurk also will likely be called upon to turn in some of their best scores of the season.
With an NCAA bid on the line this weekend, Virginia will count on every member of the team to come out firing with the distance and accuracy to carry the Cavaliers into the Tournament.
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