Senior Ben James set a new University of Virginia postseason record on May 19 by shooting an 8-under, 63 in the second round of the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional. The score is the lowest ever recorded by a Cavalier in an NCAA Regional and ties for the second lowest round in program history.
James started his round with four consecutive birdies beginning on the third hole and completed the front nine at five under par. He continued his strong play on the back nine, recording birdies on four of the first five holes. His only bogey came on his final hole, preventing him from tying Jimmy Stanger’s all-time program record for lowest round. This marks James’s second career round of 63, with his previous coming during his college debut at the Streamsong Invitational in 2022.
With this performance, James surpassed Ashton Poole’s single-round NCAA Regional record of 64 set in 2019. He becomes one of six Cavaliers to shoot a competitive round of 63 or better and is the first since classmate Bryan Lee achieved it at the Puerto Rico Classic in early 2024.
James enters Wednesday’s final regional round holding a three-stroke lead over Mahanth Chirravuri (Pepperdine) and Cameron Tankersley (Ole Miss), who are tied for second place individually. As a team, Virginia improved upon its opening day total by one stroke with a combined score of 14-under-par (270), placing them first after two rounds—six strokes ahead of Pepperdine.
Bryan Lee moved up to sixth place overall after carding a second-round score of 67, while Paul Chang sits tied for eighth following his own score of 68. The Cavaliers’ position puts them within reach to advance to finals scheduled for May 29 through June 3 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
The top five teams and low individual not among those teams from each regional will qualify for nationals as competition continues.
