After its second place finish in the Moon Golf Invitational in late February, the No. 6 Virginia women’s golf team finished third in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, a three-day tournament at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. The Cavaliers shot a 12-over 864 including a four-under 280 in the second round, to end 16 strokes behind Oregon — the only team to finish under par Tuesday.
Virginia’s first round one-over 287 put them in second place – tied with Oregon and only one stroke behind Kent State. Senior Riley Smyth led the Cavaliers with a two-under 69 that included five birdies.
Virginia kept this second place position through day two with an impressive 4-under 280. Three Cavaliers including Lillie, Smyth and junior Jennifer Cleary would enter the closing round tied for second place at 140. Lillie and Cleary shot two-under rounds of 69 and Smyth shot even par during their second rounds.
Lillie led Virginia and put up her best score of the tournament in the final round with a three-under 68 to finish as runner up for the second consecutive tournament, but the team ended up falling to third place overall behind Oregon and Wake Forest after carding a 13-over closing round.
The Cavaliers led the tournament in birdies with a total of 51, which was eight more than the second highest team. Lillie helped make this happen playing six-under on the par fours with an average score of 3.82 for the tournament.
Cleary ended six strokes behind Lillie in sixth place, finishing with a one-over 214 following a three-over third round. She tied her best single round score with her three-under 69 in the second round. Smyth shot a 10-over 223 to finish tied for 43rd, and freshman Amanda Sambach and junior Celeste Valinho tied for 52nd and 54th, respectively.
Wake Forest junior Rachel Kuehn led the tournament with a 10-under 203 and two rounds of 67.
Next up, Virginia will compete March 25-27 at the Ping ASU Invitational at the Papago Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz.
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