Oct. 5, 2008

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- In perhaps the most exciting Army-Navy golf match in series history, Navy senior Ryan Wielgus (Bethesda, Md.) sank a 15-foot putt for birdie on the first playoff hole to lead the Midshipmen to a sudden death victory over Army in the annual Star Match held at the West Point Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday. Winners of nine of the last 11 Star Matches, the Mids have won three in a row against the Black Knights. Meanwhile, Navy is now 1-0 in Star Games this season and 2-0 in overall Army-Navy meetings.

"Without a doubt, this was the most thrilling Army-Navy contest I've been involved with," said 19th-year Navy head coach Pat Owen, who owns an 11-8 record against Army. "I give credit to our senior leadership for the victory today."

Following Sunday's seven singles matches, the two-day Ryder Cup-style competition was tied at 5.5 apiece. Both coaches looked to their No. 1 singles player to represent their respective team in what was the series' first sudden death match in the current format.

Army sophomore Matt Krembel looked to have the advantage heading into sudden death, having provided points in both singles and doubles play.

Wielgus, meanwhile, entered the playoff with the odds stacked against him. Battling a wrist injury for the better part of a year, he had not seen action in Navy's three tournaments this fall and on this particular weekend, he had been shut out, losing his singles match to Krembel on the final hole earlier in the day as well as his four-ball match a day prior.

"Ryan's been nursing this wrist injury for some time, but I told him to let me know when he was ready," said Owen. "He started hitting balls last weekend and kept working on his short game.

"He really is an impressive player. He has tremendous concentration and the ability to stay within that moment. There are some intangibles you cannot teach and he has several."

After sharing a couple of laughs, Wielgus and Krembel, surrounded by the gallery of Army and Navy golfers, friends and family, headed to the 17th hole to begin the playoff. Krembel crushed his shot off the tee, while Wielgus' shot managed to clip a tree and ended up in the light rough just in front of the mighty sandtrap below the green. Because of the position of the ball, Wielgus was conservative with his second shot and knocked his wedge about 10 feet from the cup. Meanwhile, Krembel's wedge hit roughly 16 inches short of the hole before spinning back to 25 feet.

Krembel's uphill putt came up six inches short, opening the door for Wielgus. Wielgus took his time before stepping up and sinking the putt for birdie and the Navy win.

"Ryan lined up is shot and calmly walked up to the ball and just hit it perfectly. It was a bit of redemption for him, I think. He got a second chance and he cashed in on it."

"There were plenty of nerves out there, but I believed in myself," said Wielgus. "I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to go out and prove what I could do and help lead the team to the win.

"It's a special win not only because I'm a senior, but especially because I was unable to give the team any points during the the weekend. Finally being able to give something back means a lot. There are unbelievable memories I will take away from this weekend."

Navy entered Sunday's singles competition facing a one-point deficit after Army won two of the four 4-ball matches and halved a third to take a 2.5-1.5 advantage after the opening day. Navy, though, had been in this situation before. A year ago the Mids found themselves trailing 2.5-1.5 following the four-ball portion of the competition, before staging a dramatic rally on their home course with victories in five of the seven singles matches to earn a 6.5 - 4.5 win. It was the first time in series history that a team had come back to win the match after trailing following the 4-ball matches.

Owen assembled a singles lineup that featured five players who had previous experience in the Star Match, while sending sophomore Rob Merkert (Severna Park, Md.) and freshman Peter Reilly (Merrimack, N.H.) onto the course for their first taste of the fierce rivalry.

Sophomore Ben Hayes (Carmichael, Calif.), playing the No. 2 singles spot, crushed Army junior James Raymond, 6 & 5, while Merkert earned a point for the Mids behind a 3 & 2 decision over Black Knight rookie Zach Garrison.

Army matched the Navy wins with a pair of its own, including a 1-up victory by Krembel over Wielgus in what the Navy senior described as a "heavyweight fight" as the two countered each other from stroke to stroke and hole to hole. Between the two competitors, there were at minimum 10 birdies in the hard-fought match that would be decided on the final putt. Wielgus' six-foot birdie looked to be on cue as it rimmed around the lip, but went astray. Krembel, meanwhile, was able to drain his four-footer for birdie and win the No. 1 singles battle. Meanwhile, Army's Minou Pak won the battle between the seniors, handing Navy team captain David Miller (Chillicothe, Ohio) a 4 & 3 setback.

With four matches down, Navy needed to win all three to win the match or two of the three to secure a tie which would be decided in a sudden death playoff. Army freshman William Park took a 2 & 1 win over Navy's Eric Stinson (Spotsylvania, Va.), but sophomore Josh Ziska (Camarillo, Calif.), a hero in his own right from last year's Army-Navy battle, came up with a big win for the Mids. The second-year standout was 2-up with three to play, but Army's Sam Walenz made an outstanding putt from approximately 40 feet out on the 16th for birdie and cut it to one. On the 18th, Ziska faced what looked to be disaster, sending his tee shot into the woods and having to take a one-stroke penalty for a drop. Calmly, he sent his next shot through the trees and onto the green and finished the par-5 hole with a 6. Walenz, though, also struggled with the final hole and he, too, would finish with a 6, giving Ziska the much-needed win for the Mids.

The final singles bout came down to an Army senior vs. a Navy freshman. Army's Adam Renfroe was coming off a gratifying 5 & 4 win over Ziska and Merkert a day earlier, while Reilly, who came into the weekend having played in just one college tournament, took to the links having watched his teammates from the gallery on Saturday. Reilly played particularly well on the back nine where he birdied three holes. His birdie on the 10th evened the match and on the 17th he was 1-up. He couldn't rest on his laurels, however, as Reilly needed to win the 18th to force a sudden death playoff.

Reilly was up first on the 18th and sent his tee shot to the steep greenside bunker. Renfroe's shot was equidistant in the fairway and went on to chip in a shot roughly 10 feet below the cup. Hitting out of the bunker, Reilly sent a 30-yard shot up to the green. Reilly would not be denied as he sank his four-foot putt to propel the two programs into the series' first sudden death match in the current Ryder Cup format.

"I guess you could say it was intuition that told me to go with Peter today," said Owen. "He's a strong player who has faced similar terrain having grown up and played in New Hampshire. He was named the New England Junior Golfer of the Year last year and won the New Hampshire Golf Association Junior Golf Championship as a senior in high school. That championship utilized the match play format, so I knew he had the experience in both a pressure situation, as well as in this style of play."

Navy 5.5, Army 5.5
Navy Wins In A Playoff
Playoff: Ryan Wielgus (Navy) def. Matt Krembel, 1-up

Four-Ball Matches
Adam Renfroe and Matt Krembel (Army) def. Josh Ziska and Rob Merkert, 5&4
James Raymond and William Park (Army) def. Ryan Wielgus and Chip Hardie, 3&2
Zach Garrison and Austin Rhymer (Army) tied Marcus Heyland and Ben Hayes, halved
Eric Stinson and David Miller (Navy) def. Sam Walenz and Mark Garrison, 1-up

Singles Matches
Matt Krembel (Army) def. Ryan Wielgus, 1-up
Ben Hayes (Navy) def. James Raymond, 6&5
Josh Ziska (Navy) def. Sam Walenz, 1-up
Peter Reilly (Navy) def. Adam Renfroe, 1-up
Rob Merkert (Navy) def. Zach Garrison, 3&2
Minou Pak (Army) def. David Miller, 4&3
William Park (Army) def. Eric Stinson, 2&1