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Virginia men’s golf headed to NCAA title match for the first time

Virginia advances to title match after knocking off Florida

By Trey Kelleher
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NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships Photo by Tyler McFarland/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Trey Kelleher is a contributor for Streaking The Lawn who came on board in the spring of 2024. He got his start in the sports writing world by creating his own blog and writing about anything and everything sports related. Trey has covered and written pieces on UVA baseball, football, basketball, golf, tennis, and swimming during his time writing for STL.

For the first time in program history, the Virginia Cavaliers men’s golf team is headed to the title match to compete for a national championship on Wednesday afternoon against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Tuesday was a long day for the Hoos. Still, it ended in all smiles as they knocked off 2024 national champion Auburn in the first round of match play 3-2 and then concluded the evening with a clutch showing against the 2023 national champion Florida Gators.

Virginia advanced by a score of four matches to one against the Gators, but the final tally doesn't quite do justice to what took place on the course, especially down the stretch.

Freshman Maxi Puregger was the first off in the afternoon slot for his team, and he took care of business, winning his match 4&3 against Florida’s Matthew Kress, a match in which Puregger never trailed. Then came the drama with UVA’s Josh Duangmanee, Ben James, Paul Chang, and Bryan Lee, all in back-and-forth matches coming down the stretch.

Duangmanee’s chances were looking faint after he rinsed his tee shot on the par-3 16th hole, and his opponent, Jack Turner, hit the far side of the green. The sophomore then stuck one to less than five feet for a chance at bogey, eventually burying that putt to put the pressure on Turner. Turner missed his lengthy par putt, swaying the match's momentum back to Duangmanee and Virginia’s corner. After coming home with two straight pars, that was enough to seal the match and claim a two-up victory.

With three wins needed, Virginia looked to junior sensation and #4 ranked amateur in the world, Ben James, to send the Cavaliers to Wednesday’s title match. His match against Luke Poulter went the distance, but Ben James hit a shot that you and I can only talk about hitting, given the circumstances and the overall skill it took to hit a shot out of a greenside bunker like he did.

That short putt was quickly conceded to Ben James by his opponent, as was their match, catapulting Virginia into tomorrow’s title match at 5:25 ET. Coverage of the event will begin at 6:00 PM on the Golf Channel.

What a gutsy showing from Virginia, and their reward is the most sought-after tee time in college golf.

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