Virginia Men's Golf Downs No. 2 Auburn to Advance to the Final Four 

For the first time in Virginia men's golf history, the Hoos have advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament by way of defeating No. 2 Auburn 3-2 in match play at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. After winning the ACC Championship for the first time, the Cavaliers continue to add more history to their already historic season. 

Virginia Men's Golf Claims First Ever ACC Championship 

After starting in 25th after day one of stroke play, where the Hoos did not have a single player under par the Hoos jumped 14 spots on day two as they rocketed up the standings to 11th. The jump in form was led by Bryan Lee, who shot two-under-par, Paul Chang, who shot a 71, and Josh Duangmanee, who notched a 72. 

On day three, Virginia shot a combined 3-over, 291, tied for the fifth-best round of any team on Sunday. Chang shot a 3-under, 69, with four of his five birdies coming on the first nine holes before going bogey-free on the final ten holes. Duagmanee and James followed Chang with scores of 72 and 73, respectively. At the end of day three, the Hoos sat 11th, allowing them to advance to the Monday stroke play finale. 

On Monday, the Cavs went to work, shooting a team-best 284 that saw them rise to seventh in the rankings to allow Virginia to advance to the match play quarterfinals. Chang again shot a 69 while James and Duangmanee both shot 71s, while Lee shot a 73. Maxi Puregger, who substituted for Deven Patel on the final day, shot a 77 to round out the Cavaliers starting five. 

With the seventh seed, Virginia faced off in the quarterfinals against No. 2 Auburn, who defeated the Cavaliers in the quarterfinals in 2024 en route to the Tigers' first-ever National Championship. 

In the first match, Puregger showed out early, taking a one-stroke lead, which he extended to three strokes after 13 holes. Then, Cayden Pope fired back for Auburn, winning four of the five final holes to pull the come-from-behind victory to give Auburn a 1-0 lead. 

After that, Jackson Koivun coasted to victory over Duangmanee as Koivun took a one-stroke lead at the sixth hole and maintained the lead for the duration of the round. Koivun was up three strokes with two holes remaining, meaning the final two holes would not need to be played. 

In match three, Ben James trailed by as much as three strokes before winning back-to-back holes on nine and ten to tie the contest. Then, James won holes 13 and 14 as he coasted to a 2 & 1 victory, meaning because James had a two-stroke lead through 17, the last hole did not need to be played. 

Feeling the momentum, Paul Chang delivered a dominant performance against Brendan Valdes as he coasted to a 5 & 3 victory, concluding the match on the 15th hole. Chang delivered four birdies and one eagle. 

With the match knotted at two, Bryan Lee brought the Hoos home with a strong 4&3 victory, where he picked up two birdies en route to giving No. 7 Virginia a 3-2 match play victory over No. 2 Auburn.