Boxes riddled the scorecards at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational. Squares for bogeys, double squares for worse, stacked hole after hole as the Beacon Hall Golf Course wore down an 11-team field. Ten teams could not escape them.
Virginia’s cards told a different story. Where other teams filled their rows with boxes, the Virginia women’s golf team strung together pars and circled birdies and posted just one-over par, the lone team in the field to stay single digits over par.
Last season, the Cavaliers did not win a tournament until April 6 at the Terps Invitational. This season, they needed only two tournaments to come out on top, beating a field that included three teams ranked in the top 25 last season.
Three Cavaliers finished in the top five of the individual leaderboard, with fourth-year Jaclyn LaHa winning the tournament outright. First-year Zoe Cusack also finished third overall, with second-year Elsie MacCleery tying for fourth place.
LaHa and the rest of the squad shined brightest on the first day of the two-day tournament. On the par-five 12th hole in the first round, LaHa carded an eagle, the only one Virginia recorded all tournament, on her way to a three-under 69. Cusack and MacCleery followed close behind with a two-under 70 and a one-under 71, respectively.
Fourth-year Mira Berglund, first-year Lily Reitter and fourth-year Kiera Bartholomew, who competed as an individual, struggled to keep pace with the three leaders. They posted respectable over-par scores, much like the rest of the 10 teams in the field.
Riding that momentum, the Cavaliers came back firing in the second round later that day. LaHa maintained her dominance with another three-under 69. Cusack improved on her opening round, charting five birdies for a three-under 69 that left her one stroke behind LaHa and tied for second.
MacCleery followed her first-round 71 with another one-under 71 to sit fourth on the leaderboard, while Berglund sat 10th and Reitter and Bartholomew placed 21st and 29th. Those scores gave the Cavaliers a commanding 20-stroke lead over second-place Tennessee after the first day.
On the second day, Virginia faltered slightly, as no player matched the under-par rounds from the first day.
LaHa once again posted the team’s best score, a one-over 73 that sealed the tournament win for Virginia and gave LaHa her first individual title of the season and the second of her career.
MacCleery opened the final round with a double bogey on the first hole but recovered to finish one-over as well, tying for fourth. Cusack could not match her spectacular first two rounds and carded a two-over 74, keeping her on the podium.
Those scores brought Virginia to a one-over team total and secured the tournament victory.
Last season, Virginia waited until April for its first title. This season, the Cavaliers claimed one in just their second tournament. But Coach Ria Scott made clear the early-season win will not change the team's approach as they move forward.
“One of the things we say in our program is, ‘Winning is the result, not the conversation,’” Scott said. “So we are just going to continue to focus on the process … It’s truly a process, one shot at a time, for these gals.”
With one trophy already in hand, the Cavaliers will look to carry their process-first approach into the rest of the fall. Virginia returns to action Oct. 5-6, when the team travels to the Windy City Collegiate Invitational at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, Ill.
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