May 17, 2008

BREMERTON, Wash. - The Navy golf team shaved three strokes off its score in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Men's Golf West Regional Friday afternoon at the Gold Mountain Country Club in Bremerton, Wash., where the Mids remain in 26th place with the final round to be played on Saturday. The Midshipmen turned in a 21-over par 309 in Friday's second round, pushing its lead over Columbia by 20 strokes. Meanwhile, the Mids trail 24th-place San Diego State by three strokes.

Top-seeded USC snatched the lead from Oregon in the second round by turning in an impressive 5-under par 283 as a team. The Trojans now hold a 5-stroke lead over the Ducks who are 3-over (289-290-579). Meanwhile, Clemson made the biggest improvement from the first to second round as the Tigers are 4-over (295-285-580) and in third place. Rounding out the top five are second-seeded UCLA and the host Washington Huskies who are battling it out for fourth with a 9-over par 585.

Oregon's Joey Benedetti continued to lead the pack by turning in a 3-under par 69 for the second consecutive round. Benedetti holds a one-stroke lead over Wisconsin's Dan Woltman who improved upon his first-round 1-under par 71 for a two-day mark of 5-under par 139.

Navy junior David Miller (Chillicothe, Ohio) continues to have an outstanding experience at the NCAA West Regional where he moved up 13 spots from 64th to 51st after turning in a 2-over par 74 in the second round. Through two rounds of action, Miller is 6-over (150) to lead the Mids.

Junior Ryan Wielgus (Bethesda, Md.) and freshman Ben Hayes (Carmichael, Calif.) are knotted at 13-over par 157 for 113th place. Wielgus followed up his 6-over par 78 with a second-round mark of 7-over par 79 for a two-day mark of 157. Meanwhile, Hayes lowered his scored by three strokes by posting a 5-over par 77 on Friday.

Seniors Erich Schoen (Sylvania, Ohio) and Chris Renninger (Darnestown, Md.) are the final two golfers competing for the Mids. Schoen stands 126th with a 15-over par 159, while Renninger, Navy's team captain, is just a stroke behind in 130th (+16, 160).

Among the teams and individuals playing in the regional are the defending NCAA team champion (Stanford), the defending NCAA individual champion (Jamie Lovemark from USC), and last year's NCAA runner-up - Clemson's Kyle Stanley. Additionally, the regional features 15 teams ranked in the Top-50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index - No. 3 USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Florida State, No. 15 UNLV, No. 18 Clemson, No. 19 Arizona State, No. 24 Texas Tech, No. 30 North Carolina, No. 33 Texas, No. 35 Pepperdine, No. 37 San Diego State, No. 41 LSU, No. 42 California, and No. 44 Oregon State. The regional field also includes six conference champions in Florida State (ACC), Arizona State (Pac-10), San Diego (West Coast), Denver (Sun Belt), Navy (Patriot League) and Columbia (Ivy League).

In all, 27 teams are vying for 10 spots to advance to the NCAA Championships hosted by Purdue, May 28-31. The NCAA West Regional concludes on Gold Mountain's par 72, 7,111-yard Olympic Course on Saturday. Admission is free. Live scoring is available on GolfStat.com and GoHuskies.com.