The Cavaliers took their show on the road from Wednesday to Friday for an opportunity few and far between for most college athletic programs. Within a matter of days, they went from meandering around Grounds and putting in a hefty tally of practice hours to finding themselves halfway across the world in Japan for the Pan-Pacific UGSL Tournament. Ultimately, Virginia emerged victorious.
From the time they stepped foot on the grounds of Grande Fields Country Club in Mishioma — a city in the Shizuoka Prefecture — senior Amanda Sambach and company hit the ground running. Sambach shot a 5-under 67 in the first round of competition Wednesday, the field’s lowest score. Three additional scores of 71, from sophomore Jaclyn LaHa, graduate student Chloe Schiavone and freshman Kennedy Swedick, kept Virginia firmly affixed to the top of the leaderboard with practically nobody in sight behind them. The nearest competition was a cumulative 297 courtesy of Tohoku Fukushi University, still 11 shots back of the Cavaliers’ 286.
Day two was much of the same for Virginia as Sambach was once again in the driver’s seat, besting her previous score by one stroke and maintaining an unyielding grip on the first spot on the leaderboard. Swedick remained steady with another one-under 71 while LaHa and Schiavone saw less favorable outcomes, both walking off the 18th green with a 77 on their cards.
The Cavaliers looked to the third and final day to solidify what would be a comprehensive victory with massive implications for a squad that finds themselves in newfound territory amongst the nation’s very best. Sambach found things a little more difficult during the third round, carding a 74. Fortunately, the overwhelming lead she had curated over the first two days provided more than enough insulation from the threat of any other player, and first place was hers in what looked to be largely an effortless three-day performance.
Schiavone and LaHa remained true to their scoring all week, earning a 74 and 73 respectively. The performances put up by these two were perhaps the difference-makers for the Cavaliers throughout the week’s play, with consistent scores around par ensuring that Sambach’s pin-seeking aggression was not in vain. Senior Megan Propeck also came out of the woodwork to put up her best score of the tournament with a 72.
Aside from the comprehensive performance put up by the team’s five starters, a number of players put in notable performances as individual competitors. Junior Ally Black put together a three-day total of 222, six over par, which placed her 31st on the leaderboard. Sophomore Kiera Bartholomew and freshman Maggie Whitehead — Virginia’s only international player by way of Durham, England — posted 228 and 230 over the three days of play.
Judging by this week, there is no doubt that the outcome of this season largely relies on Sambach. It is no shock that she was just recently named to this season’s Annika Award watch list, putting her in the company of the nation’s very best female golfers. If she continues to wreak havoc on the course like she did this week in Japan, there is all the chance in the world that she will end the season receiving that honor.
Sambach is only one component, however, and for a team that was recently named the 15th best team in the nation in Golfweek’s preseason polls, a tournament victory in the very first event of the year forecasts more of what we hope to see from the squad as a cohesive unit. It appears that the Cavaliers have built off of what was a really encouraging end to last season and the outlook looks even brighter given this week’s result.
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