After making the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1947, West Virginia showed it needs a bit more time to find success at the highest level.
WVU Golf’s historic season came to an end on Sunday after three rounds at the NCAA Championship. WVU recorded its best Big 12 Championship finish since its revival and a third-place finish at the Rancho Santa Fe Regional this season.
The Mountaineers placed 28th of 30 teams at the NCAA Championship, finishing with rounds of 307-304-302=913 (+49) for the weekend. At the tough Omni La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif., day-to-day improvement was about the best the Mountaineers could ask for, and they certainly got that despite the low finish.
At the individual level, junior Todd Duncan recorded the best rounds among Mountaineers. Duncan sat at +8 after two rounds, trailing teammate Max Green by a stroke, but with his season on the line, Duncan performed, shooting an even par on Sunday for a final score of 78-74-72=224 (+8).
Green, meanwhile, added a few strokes on Sunday, posting a 79 for round three to finish at 76-75-79=230 (+14). While Green’s play suffered, though, senior Jackson Davenport made up for it, improving to 75 after two 77-stroke rounds to start the week. Davenport finished one stroke better than Green for the NCAA Championship, at 13-over-par.
Junior Pierce Grieve and sophomore Kaleb Wilson rounded out the West Virginia lineup in Carlsbad. Grieve shot consistently for rounds of 76-78-79=233 (+17), while Wilson improved tremendously on Sunday to finish with 82-84-76=242 (+26).
After the first three rounds of competition, just 15 teams advanced to Monday’s stroke play round, putting West Virginia’s season to a close. Tennessee and East Tennessee State tied for 15th across the three rounds, finishing +27 overall- 22 strokes better than WVU.
NCAA Championship Standings:
1. Illinois (-2)
2. Virginia (+4)
3. Vanderbilt (+9)
4. Florida State (+10)
5. Ohio State (+13)
T6. North Carolina (+15)
T6. Auburn (+15)
8. Florida (+20)
T9. Georgia Tech (+21)
T9. Arizona (+21)
11. Texas (+23)
12. Baylor (+24)
13. Oklahoma (+25)
T14. East Tennessee State (+27)
T14. Tennessee (+27)
16. Wake Forest (+29)
17. Texas Tech (+31)
18. LSU (+39)
19. California (+40)
T20. Texas A&M (+41)
T20. Stanford (+41)
22. Clemson (+42)
T23. Oklahoma State (+43)
T23. Notre Dame (+43)
25. Utah (+45)
26. SMU (+46)
27. New Mexico (+48)
28. West Virginia (+49)
29. North Florida (+57)
30. Purdue (+60)
Italicized teams advanced to stroke play on Monday.
Photo from WVU Men’s Golf
