The University of Virginia football team was picked a lowly seventh in Coastal Division football during this week’s ACC media tour.
Wednesday afternoon UVa golfer Lyndsey Hunnell made sure a Cavalier finished first.
Backing up her first round 72 at Ole Monterey Gold Club on Tuesday, Hunnell fired a 2-under-par 70 at Hanging Rock to win the Roanoke Valley Women’s Golf Association City-County. Hunnell’s two-round 142 total was good for a four-shot win over 17-time champion Dot Bolling. Bolling matched Hunnell’s 70 on Wednesday.
It was Hunnell’s second RVWGA City-County win, as the rising UVa sophomore and former Lord Botetourt product also won the event in 2012.
Hunnell began the final round with a one-shot lead over Radford University sophomore Meagan Board. Board pulled even when she birdied the first hole Wednesday, but Hunnell held tough over the outward nine before ending Board’s hopes with a three-shot swing on Hanging Rock’s par-4 16th after Board hit into a hazard that led to a double bogey and Hunnell sank a tricky putt for birdie.
Hunnell has seen her game continue to improve after her coach at UVa emphasized more distance on her shots.
“I’ve been hitting it further off the tee and I’m hitting my irons about 15 yards longer,” Hunnell said after her winning round. “This is a great win heading back to school and getting ready for qualifying. Hopefully, I’ll be in the lineup. UVa should have a very strong team.”
Wednesday’s lead threesome was an all-college trio, with Carson-Newman junior Jessie Hart joining Hunnell and Board for a round that took just a little over 3 1/2 hours to complete.
“We just flew through it, just buzzing around out there,” Board noted. The 19-year-old Board was the defending champion after knocking off Bolling in a two-hole playoff last year at Blue Hills.
Board, who finished fourth at 150, was just glad to be in the mix at the end after being diagnosed earlier this year with hypothyroidism.
“They tested my blood and they found hypothyroidism, and I had a nodule in the left side of my thyroid, so they removed it,” Board explained. “It caused me to be really exhausted. I had a lot of anxiety to lose weight and I was shaky and moody. I wanted to play good this week. I had so much more energy and I’m back to 100%.”
Hunnell said playing with two of her friends was a huge help.
“It was a lot more fun, more relaxing,” Hunnell noted. “Being in the lead, I didn’t freak out. I stayed calm and didn’t spray anything right or do anything bad. Now, it’s going to be great going back to school coming off a win.”
Hart was impressive with a final-round 72, good for a third place finish.
“My approach is different in how I think about a round,” Hart said. “Today, all three of us were hitting the fairways and hitting the greens. It goes by quickly.”
When it was pointed out that she finished birdie-birdie on the final two holes shortly after the media camera began rolling, Hart had the answer.
“You should have gotten here earlier,” Hart noted with a chuckle.
Bill Turner
