The University of Virginia men’s golf team finished the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship tied for eighth place with a score of 3-over-par 291, according to an April 23 update from the team. The tournament is being held at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City, Florida.
The top eight teams after three days and 54 holes of stroke play will advance to match play, making each round critical for teams aiming to continue in the competition. Virginia shares its position with Clemson and Florida State heading into the second day.
Senior Ben James led Virginia on Thursday by shooting a 2-under-par 70. He was two under on the front nine, had his only bogey on hole eleven, but regained momentum with a birdie on seventeen. James ended day one tied for ninth individually and is four strokes behind leader William Sides from Southern Methodist University.
Graduate student Paul Chang started strong with two birdies in his first three holes but finished at one over par after recording four bogeys throughout his round. This result broke his streaks of five consecutive rounds in the sixties and ten straight rounds at par or better. Freshman Michael Lee and junior Josh Duangmanee each shot two-over-par rounds of 74.
Stanford leads the team standings at thirteen under par (275), followed by Wake Forest (-3), North Carolina (-2), Georgia Tech (-1), SMU (even), NC State (+1), Louisville (+2) and then Clemson, Virginia, and Florida State all tied at +3.
Round two is scheduled to begin Friday morning, April 24. Michael Lee will be Virginia’s first player to tee off at 10:50 a.m., starting on hole ten.
