The University of Virginia is competing in the NCAA DI Women’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. Closing the second day of play, Virginia moved up to 11th place, tying with Arkansas, after previously being tied for 13th place on day one. Stanford leads the tournament at 5-under.
The first day of the tournament, Virginia shot a combined score of 294, with Megan Propeck and Amanda Sambach both shooting even par to lead the team.
“We did not have our best games, however, they continued to fight and be patient. So, I’m really, really proud of their effort and how they ended up scoring at the end of the day,” Virginia’s Head Coach Ria Scott said.
Senior Propeck from Leawood, Kansas, is leading the Cavaliers after going three-under, shooting a 69. Propeck has many accolades from her collegiate years, opening the season in the Pan-Pacific UGSL Tournament in Japan in 35th, leading UVA at the NCAA Charlottesville Regional with a career best fourth place finish and ranking No. 55 in the NCAA rankings.
“After yesterday, I felt good, I felt like it was a steady day, not my best, but I was just happy to get it around at even par as a solid round out here, something to build off of. And then today, the front nine, I made all pars and was starting to get a little frustrated that I couldn’t make any birdies, but was still happy with just steady play, which is huge out here, keeping the bogeys off is such a big, big advantage,” said Propeck. “And then I got a couple putts to go in. I was honestly getting a little nervous coming down the stretch because I knew I had a good round put together but was super pleased with how today went, and I feel confident going into the next couple rounds of stroke play.”
After shooting a 72 on the first day, Propeck was able to redeem herself on day two, shooting three-under. Propeck made three birdies, one of these being on a par-4 and the other two being on par-5s. Propeck ended the day tied for 6th on the individual player leaderboard.
“I feel staying patient was probably the biggest challenge. It was a little bit windy in the beginning, so it was hard to stick things in tight, and I wasn’t kind of in my groove yet. So that was a bit of a challenge, and then just trusting that the putts would fall eventually and they ended up starting to go in as the round went along. So that was probably the biggest challenge,” said Propeck.
Propeck has been on this team for four years now and just graduated this weekend while competing in the NCAA Championship. In her sophomore year, she shot a career best at the time of 68 during the NCAA Regional final round. Now, she has tied a program-record, shooting a 65 on her final round at the Chattanooga Classic.
“I started playing when I was pretty little, I would say an inspiration, probably the person who really kept me in golf was my brother. He’s a couple years older than me, and we’re really competitive together, so me and him getting to both play together growing up, I think, is what really kept me in the sport,” said Propeck.
Coach Scott surprised the seniors of the program with a graduation ceremony due to these student-athletes having to miss their graduation date to participate in the NCAA Championship.
“Seeing these women grow over the four or five years that I have them is probably one of the most rewarding things that I see in coaching, how they grow, how they develop and how you know a little part of their lives here at the University of Virginia, and on the women’s golf team, helps shape them for the future,” said Scott. “It’s so rewarding to me, especially when you know, I see where they end up 5-10 years down the line and know that this experience helped shape them.”
After competing in the first round and feeling things out, the women came out for day two more confidently. With a better understanding of the course and adapting to the wind, the team as a whole felt more comfortable with their play.
“I think every day we’re just trying to learn a little bit more about the golf course and the conditions. All of the experience that they’re gaining, both last year and in the previous rounds, is definitely going to help them for tomorrow. I think they’re finding more and more comfort on this golf course, so I’m really excited to see what they can do tomorrow,” Scott said.
Having Virgina being across the country did not stop the UVA family and fans from coming out and supporting the women at the championship.
“We’re here today, my husband and I, because our daughter went to UVA and played volleyball, Jennifer Weinhold, and we live here in Carlsbad, ” said UVA fan Laura Weinhold. “She had a wonderful experience at UVA, playing volleyball there for four years, so we try to support all the girls’ teams and all the guys’ teams. Frankly, whenever they come to California we try to go out and see them and this is just a beautiful golf course, that’s very close to where we live. We miss Charlottesville, but these absolutely gorgeous girls are doing great.”
Day three of the competition will tee off on Sunday, May 18th, at 6:30 a.m. (PST), with the Cavaliers teeing off at 7:47 a.m. (PST) paired with University of South Carolina and University of Arkansas.
