Coach Bowen Sargent’s lengthy tenure at the helm of Virginia’s men’s golf program has been decorated with consistent success. The program has reached an NCAA Regional for 17 straight seasons, achieved the nation’s No. 1 ranking multiple times and put three players on the PGA Tour. But of all his 21 seasons with Virginia, this one was his most accomplished by a long shot.
One thing that had eluded Sargent before this season — and every other coach in the program’s 72 years playing in the ACC — was an ACC Championships title. The team captured the title this year in match play and then stormed to their best finish ever at the NCAA Championships, advancing in match play for the first time ever, advancing again and then finishing runner-up.
Nothing in a steady but title-less regular season, one that ended with the Cavaliers ranked No. 11 in the nation, truly forecasted what was to come. But when the ACC Championships came, Virginia kept advancing.
The ACC title match that kickstarted the run almost never came to be. Virginia’s hopes of competing in the championship came down to junior Bryan Lee’s matchup against Clemson in the semifinal. Luckily for Virginia, Lee belonged in a moment like this.
Lee came to Charlottesville in 2022 as a top ten player in his recruiting class but, according to Sargent, lacked confidence early in his career. However, Sargent, even with his collected and professional demeanor, lights up when talking about the player who trots out last in match play.
Lee sometimes falls into the shadow of his fellow junior, Ben James, the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world. It is a tough standard to be held to, but Lee, Sargent thinks, is right there with his teammate.
“He is one of the best players in the country,” Sargent said. “He’s right there, knocking on the door, equally as good as [James].”
Sargent always walks with Lee in match play, so he was first-hand to witness him rise to the moment in his ACC semifinal matchup.
“He goes to the 21st hole in basically a playoff situation,” Sargent said. “We win, we advance to the finals. We lose, we’re done.”
It was a long par 3 for that 21st hole, and although he did not get off to the best start, Lee delivered in the end.
“He hit it in this bunker and had no stance, couldn’t even get to the ball,” Sargent said. “I was sitting there thinking, ‘If he could get it on the green and have a 30 or 40-foot putt, that would be pretty good.’ And dang if he didn’t hit it to about six feet.”
Lee tapped in and won the match, giving Virginia its first ever ACC final appearance. He battled fiercely in his next matchup, this one against No. 12 North Carolina, winning four of the last five holes for a come-from-behind victory, a clincher as well that brought an ACC title, finally, to Charlottesville.
After advancing from the NCAA Reno Regional, Virginia sat at 25th place after the first round of the NCAA Championships May 23. However, the team rose to the occasion, pulling itself above the cut-line in the next two rounds to qualify for the fourth round of stroke play. Sitting at 11th place, the Cavaliers needed to jump three spots in only one round to reach match play. As the round progressed, it was clear they would have a chance, but it would be close.
On the ninth hole, senior Paul Chang faced a 20-foot putt for birdie that could bring Virginia into a tie for eighth place.
“The odds of making that putt are one in 25, probably, for anybody,” Sargent said. “So nobody was sitting here thinking, ‘Well, he’s probably going to make this putt.’”
If anybody could make it, though, it was Chang, who has scraped his way into becoming one of the better amateur golfers in the country despite only walking onto the team as a junior. He made the putt. Virginia went on to clinch a match play berth. His individual title at Reno made him only the second Cavalier ever to win a regional, and his coach views him as a golfer who practices and plays with grit.
“He has had a tough upbringing, coming from China to England and then over to here,” Sargent said. “I mean, he's been separated from his parents since pre-COVID. He’s a very self-sufficient guy that shows up every day and works hard.”
Chang finished seventh overall in stroke play, the highest-placing ACC golfer. He continued to play a key role in Virginia’s incredible run, defeating WAGR No. 5 senior Brendan Valdes five and three and All-SEC freshman Zack Swanwick one up to help the team eliminate Auburn and Florida, respectively.
But after multiple blown leads in their individual matchups, Virginia lost in the final to Oklahoma State. The team, however, is not dwelling on their defeat. Instead, the Cavaliers are marching on, with their heads held high, into next season.
“We gave it a good fight,” Lee said.
They will renew that fight next year — all five players that played in match play will return next year. Both Lee and James, along with Class of 2024 alumnus George Duangmanee, qualified for the U.S. Open. That pair, and this team, returning its primary core of talent, will have another crack at the title next year.
“There’s only more to look forward to, because we’ve got so many guys we can count on,” Lee said.
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