Sept. 23, 2007

Complete Results

Sea Trail/Elon Invitational - Final Results

SUNSET BEACH, N.C. - The Navy golf team struggled in the final round of action at the Sea Trail/Elon Invitational where it shot a 14-over par 302 and fell back from 12th to finish 14th at the 19-team tournament held at the Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach, N.C. The Mids shot a three-day, 54-hole mark of 18-over par 882, just a stroke behind 13th-place High Point (290-289-302). Elon, who held a commanding lead heading into the final round, turned in a 36-over par 828 to claim the team title.

In one of the most hotly-contested tournaments Navy has been involved in in recent memory, most of the field was separated by minimal strokes. One of the biggest examples of how tight the competition was Wofford, who was in second place going into the final round, but tumbled to eighth after turning in a 7-over par 295 in the final round.

South Carolina-Upstate's Josh Gallman shot a 2-under par 70 in the final round to claim medalist honors with his three-day 10-under par 206. He was one of 27 players in the tournament to finish under par.

After posting a 2-under par 286 in the second round, Navy head coach Pat Owen was hoping his Midshipmen would continue their improvement into the final day of action.

"We did not play as well as we wanted to today, but overall I still think we could point to some highlights throughout the weekend," said Owen. "We will take those positives and move forward as we will look to improve this week as we head into our match against Army."

Senior Erich Schoen (Sylvania, Ohio) paced the Midshipmen both on the final day and in the tournament where she shot par and placed 24th with a 1-under par 215. He was Navy's only player that shot par or lower in each of the three rounds. Team captain Chris Renninger (Darnestown, Md.) shot a 3-under par 69 on Saturday, but couldn't quit maintain his momentum as he turned in a 2-over 74 in the final round and placed 30th with a 1-over par 217.

Junior Chip Hardie (Crofton, Md.) opened the tournament with a 1-under par 71, but in the second round shot a 2-over par 74 and posted a 6-over par on Sunday in the final round. He tied for 60th with a 7-over par 223.

Like Renninger, Ryan Sload (Lancaster, Pa.) had a sensational second round, shaving off 10 strokes from his opening round of 81. Sload, however, finished 82nd with a 14-over par 230 after turning in a 6-over par 78 in the final round.

Rounding out the scores for the Midshipmen was junior Eric Stinson (Spotsylvania, Va.) who was challenged throughout the weekend. He posted a 7-over par 79 in the final round and placed 91st with a 22-over par 238.

Navy will be back in action next Saturday and Sunday when the Midshipmen play host to Army in the annual Star Match. Last year Navy earned a 6-5 victory over the Black Knights at West Point. The Mids jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first day of action, claiming wins in three of the four doubles matches, before winning three of the seven singles matches on the final day.