April 16, 1997

Cavaliers Search for First Team Championship

Virginia in the ACC Tournament: The Cavaliers will look for their first ever team championship at the 43rd Annual ACC Tournament this weekend. Virginia finished second in last year's tournament, nine strokes behind North Carolina. That was the Cavaliers' best ACC finish since the 1958 squad tied for second.

Under head coach Mike Moraghan the Cavaliers have finished second once (1996), third twice (1992, '95), fourth once (1993), fifth once (1990), six once (1991) and seventh once (1994).

Virginia against the ACC Field: The Cavaliers have played in 10 tournaments in the fall and spring season and have faced at least two other ACC schools in every tournament but one.

Virginia is best against Florida State (4-0) and Maryland (2-0). The Cavaliers also have winning records against Georgia Tech (5-2) and N.C. State (4-2). They haven't fared as well against Clemson (0-4), Duke (1-2), North Carolina (1-4-1) or Wake Forest (2-3).

Head Coach Mike Moraghan: Mike Moraghan is in his eighth season as head coach at Virginia. He has built the Cavaliers into one of the nation's top programs, with UVa consistently ranked in the top 20. Moraghan was named the ACC Co-Coach of the Year in 1992. Virginia has captured 17 tournaments and qualified for the NCAA Championships six of the last seven years under Moraghan's guidance.

Cavaliers Turn in Best ACC Performance in 38 Years Last Season: Virginia finished second last year's ACC Tournament, tying the best finish by the Cavaliers in the event. UVa tied for second place at the 1958 tournament.

Virginia's three-round total of 869 (292-290-287) was nine strokes behind champion North Carolina (290-284-286=860) and one stroke ahead of Clemson (297-292-281).

The Cavaliers found themselves tied for fourth after the first round, but slowly chipped away at the competition. They passed Duke and Maryland for third following a 290 in the second round, and overtook Florida State in the race for second place with a 287 on the final day.

Lewis Chitengwa was the low Cavalier, finishing tied for third with a 2-under par 214, with rounds of 73-70-71. Andrea Brotto tied for 14th with a 2-over par 218 (72-76-70). Cole Kelly and Max Rehm tied for 37th for the Cavaliers at 229.

Almost Home: Senior captain Cole Kelly returns to his home state for the 1997 ACC Tournament. The Athens, Ga., native has been a four-year starter for the Cavaliers and is competing this season as a graduate student. He received his undergraduate degree in religious studies in May 1996.

Kelly is fifth on the team this spring with a 77.12 stroke average. His best performance this spring was a tie for 22nd at the Seminole Classic where he fired rounds of 72-74-77=223. He tied for 37th at last year's ACC Tournament, and tied for 38th at the 1995 event.

Chitengwa Posts Two Top-10 ACC Finishes: Junior Lewis Chitengwa finished in a tie for third in last year's ACC Tournament, after finishing tied for fourth in 1995. He joins Clemson's Richard Coughlan as the only current ACC players to finish in the top 10 the last two years.

Chitengwa has also been Virginia's low man the last two years and is the first Cavalier to be the low man in consecutive ACC Tournaments since Dickie Linkous in 1980-81.

Freshman Driscoll Lives Up to Billing: James Driscoll came to Virginia this fall as one of the nation's top recruits. And so far he has met expectations. His 70.66 fall average is the lowest fall average in school history. He had three consecutive top-10 finishes in the fall and has added another one this spring (at Carpet Capital). Driscoll has a 74.53 stroke average this spring.

Julie Finishes Third at Golf Digest: Junior Jeremy Julie shook off several tough performances this spring and turned in the best performance of his career by finishing tied for third at the Golf Digest Invitational at TPC Woodlands on March 14-16. Julie led the Cavaliers with an even-par 144 as Virginia finished eighth overall. Julie is fourth on the team with a 76.71 average. He tied for 24th at the 1995 ACC Tournament.

Brotto Returns to Line-Up: Sophomore Andrea Brotto returns to the Cavalier line-up after not playing in UVa's most recent tournament last weekend. He began the spring with three consecutive top-20 finishes, but has struggled in his last two events. After compiling a 72.45 average in the fall, he has a 75.50 average in the spring. He finished tied for 14th with a 4-over par 218 at last year's ACC championship.

Since the first ACC Tournament was held in 1954, Virginia has had one individual champion and three runners-up. The Cavaliers finished second in 1996, their best finish since 1958. Lewis Chitengwa finished tied for third in last year's tournament, the first Cavalier in 15 years to post back-to-back low-man finishes. This year's tournament will be held April 18-20 at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta, Ga.
Here are Virginia's annual results: 

       Team  Low UVa
Yr      Fin  Individ.          Fin.      Score
1954    7th  Pete Arend         T2               72
1955    3rd  Pete Arend          1        71-71-142
1956    8th  Jack Rinehart     T36        78-81-159
1957    3rd  Jordan Ball        T7        70-77-147
1958    T2   Glenn Mitchell     T2        72-71-143
1959    6th  Algie Pulley      T28        76-75-151
1960    8th  Jeff Kirby        T19        77-80-157
1961    5th  Jeff Kirby        T12        78-72-150
             John Putnam                  73-77-150
1962    6th  Clark MacKenzie    T4        73-74-146
1963    4th  Clark MacKenzie    T4        77-73-150
1964    6th  Mickey Callahan   T15        76-76-152
1965    7th  John Yoder        T18        79-75-154
1966    7th  Don Baker         T20        84-79-163
1967    8th  Doug Rogers       T41        86-82-168
1968    6th  Paul Samanchik      3        77-69-146
1969    8th  Ben Greenberg     T15        77-77-154
1970    7th  Paul Samanchik     T7        74-69-143
1971    7th  Brit Stenson       29  74-69-89-78-310
1972    5th  Mike Mozur        T12     79-76-78-233
1973    7th  Mike Mozur        T18     76-70-82-228
1974    7th  Chris Stanwich    T16     85-81-73-239
1975    7th  David Partridge   T24     74-78-81-233
1976    7th  Ed Offterdinger   T23     79-77-72-228
1977    7th  Clem King         T22     79-74-72-225
1978    7th  Scott Stahr        34     78-80-74-232
1979    7th  Kevin Moylan       T6     73-71-78-222
1980    5th  Dickie Linkous    T13     74-71-76-221
1981    6th  Dickie Linkous    T17     79-76-73-228
1982    6th  Brett Lucas       T11     73-74-74-221
1983    4th  Jon Saxon          T9     72-72-75-219
1984    8th  Brett Lucas       T14     73-78-78-229
1985    8th  Tim Ford          T30     75-75-74-224
1986    8th  Jud Kotas         T30     75-75-81-231
             Chris Warring             77-79-75-231
1987    5th  Jeff Putman        T3     75-70-70-215
1988    4th  Curt Coulter        2     72-75-70-217
1989    7th  Tim Dunlavey       T8     75-74-71-220
1990    T5   Fred Widicus       T3     72-76-64-212
1991    6th  Dan Ladd           T6        68-74-142
1992    3rd  Tom Iredell        T3     70-67-73-210    
             Dean Smith                73-66-71-210
1993    T4   Jimmy Flippen     T12     73-72-74-219
1994    7th  Simon Cooke         3     70-73-70-213
1995    3rd  L. Chitengwa       T4     72-68-72-212
1996    2nd  L. Chitengwa       T3     73-70-71-214