Following a 21st-place finish in the nation at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament just a few months ago, Virginia women’s golf is back on the course for a five-tournament slate this fall.
For the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, which kicked off the 2026-27 season, the Cavaliers traveled to Lake Elmo, Minn., playing three rounds of golf at the Royal Golf Club just outside of Minneapolis. Virginia took on 54 holes and 12 teams — seven of which finished among the top 25 teams at the NCAA Championships.
In the first 18, first-year Zoe Cusack began her opening holes of collegiate golf on a heater, carding a five-under 67. Cusack birdied her first hole and ended her first nine birdying the final five, while tying a Virginia record for the low round by a freshman in the process.
Safe to say, Cusack is more than ready for the collegiate stage, and her 67 propelled her individual score and Virginia to the top of the leaderboard after the first day of play, shooting an even 288 to tie for second on the day and eight shots behind Wake Forest. After the first round Monday, fourth-year Mira Berglund recorded a one-over 73, tying for 16th on the individual leaderboard, while fourth-year Jaclyn LaHa and first-year Lily Reitter tallied a two-over-par.
In the following 18 holes Tuesday, Virginia improved to four-under-par to land in third place behind Oregon at five-under-par and Wake Forest at a dominant 20-under-par overall. LaHa carded a team-best four-under par, finishing off the round tied for fourth overall on the individual leaderboard and tying the lowest individual score of the day. Berglund and second-year Elsie MacCleery also floated just under par, shooting one-under-par for the Cavaliers.
Echoing the first 18 holes, Cusack led the Cavaliers Wednesday, recording her second round under par in her debut, at one-under par. Cusack finished two under par across the three rounds, tying for fifth place on the individual leaderboard. As a team, the Cavaliers tied for sixth place at Lake Elmo, shooting a seven over par Wednesday to finish with a three-over 867 overall.
LaHa finished 15th overall with a one-over-par 217, and, rounding out the top 30 individual performances, Berglund tied for 27th at three-over. Reitter tied for 33rd place in her collegiate debut, recording a six-over par. MacCleery carded a seven-over 223 to finish 35th overall.
The Demon Deacons stifled the competition at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate for the second year in a row. This time, Wake Forest cruised to a win by 10 strokes, finishing at 24-under-par after 54 holes, with USC following closest behind to earn second-place honors on a tournament-best 15-under-par final day. Oregon capped off the podium with a two-under-par overall performance.
In a tournament defined by remarkable collegiate debuts, freshman Michelle Xing recorded a nine-under-par individual performance overall to take home medalist honors with a record-tying seven-under-par final 18 holes on her collegiate tournament debut.
For Virginia, its tie for second after round one gave way to third after round two and a tie for sixth by the finish. The Cavaliers were simply outscored by the field on both Tuesday and Wednesday despite Cusack’s impressive debut and LaHa’s continued consistency at the top of the lineup. With a full fall remaining, Virginia will look to establish and eventually exercise its depth.
Next on the slate for the Cavaliers, the lineup heads to Aurora, Canada, for the two-day Canadian Collegiate Invitational at Beacon Hall Country Club, teeing off Sept. 21.
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