Following a strong start to the fall campaign which saw Virginia men’s golf pick up a win and a third-place finish in their first two events, the squad ventured north to the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, N.Y., for the Hamptons Intercollegiate. Though the Cavaliers won the event in both 2021 and 2022, they could not muster a good enough performance for a third victory in four years, as they finished in third place out of 12 total competitors.
The tournament began in a less-than-auspicious fashion for Virginia, as the Cavaliers’ score ballooned to 19 over par after the first round, leaving only two rounds to make up the ground from one of their worst days in recent memory.
Senior Paul Chang was perhaps the only silver lining in what was otherwise a dreadful day, shooting an even-par 72. In an uncharacteristic turn of events, junior Ben James floundered with a 77, while senior Deven Patel and sophomore Josh Duangmanee both left the 18th green at seven-over. Junior Bryan Lee’s score of 83 left him outside of the team’s four best scores and thus luckily saved Virginia from an even more grandiose setback.
However, as with any golf tournament, a team must be able to leave failure in the past and work to rebuild within the holes that they can control. The Cavaliers evidently took this to heart in the second round, leaving destruction in their wake on the way to an absolutely blistering round of play. Lee led the way with a 65, which was a shocking 18-stroke differential from his previous result. Patel and James rattled off twin scores of 68.
Duangmanee came up the rear with a 69, which would have been considered a spectacular score on any other day. This time, Chang was the odd one out, although his even-par card was more than respectable. The Cavaliers were now within three strokes of even-par after compiling a cumulative score of 16-under, good for the second best team score of the round. Virginia sat in fourth place with an encouraging proximity to the second-place teams, Wake Forest and Florida State.
The third round proceeded much in the way of the second, as the Cavaliers bested the entire field with an eight-under score on the final day. Leading the way was Patel, who came out with a nearly unscathed 68. Lee, James and Duangmanee all hung around just under par with a 70 and two 71s, respectively.
Still, this tremendous comeback was no match for an Ole Miss team that was firing on all cylinders throughout the tournament. The Rebels ended up taking the title by a staggering 20 strokes, with Virginia trailing by 21 when all was said and done.
This left the Cavaliers with the third-place spot, which was more than satisfactory given where they were after the first round. The rounds that followed gave a glimpse into just what this team can accomplish when they are attacking the course full-bore.
The next event for the Cavaliers takes them to Alpharetta, Ga., for the aptly-named Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. It has been a promising start for Virginia, and the squad will look to continue its journey on the right path come the start of play Oct. 18.
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