March 29, 2009

Complete Results

• 2009 Towson Invitational - Final Results

GRASONVILLE, Md. -- After struggling to manage the greens on Saturday, the Navy golf team bounced back to turn in its best round of the 54-hole Towson University Golf Invitational on Sunday and finished in a tie for 11th place out of 17 teams. The Mids, who recorded a 14-over par 302 in the final round, posted a 56-over par 920 for the tournament, four strokes behind 10th-place Long Island., while tying Rutgers.

Kent State won the tournament by over 20 strokes, as it turned in three straight rounds of under par to finish the event 11-strokes under. William & Mary placed second with a 14-over par 878, followed by Seton Hall (880), Delaware (889) and UNC Greensboro (891) to round out the top five.

Meanwhile, a week ago Navy had the benefit of getting an early glance at its Patriot League foes as Colgate, Bucknell and Holy Cross joined the Mids at the George Washington Invitational. This weekend, Army fielded a team that finished 16th at the Towson Invitational, 18 strokes behind the Mids.

Not only did the Golden Flashes dominate the team title, Kent State sophomore John Hahn claimed medalist honors with a 5-under par 211, while teammates Mackenzie Hughes and Nick Latimer were two strokes behind in second.

Sophomore Josh Ziska (Camarillo, Calif.) led the Mids with an 8-over par 224 to place 20th. Ziska opened the tournament with a 2-over par before hitting a bump in the road with a 5-over par 77 in the second round. He regrouped on Sunday to turn in his low round of the tournament with a 1-over par 73.

Just a stroke behind Ziska in 23rd was senior Eric Stinson (Spotsylvania, Va.) who shot par on Sunday to move up in the standings with a 9-under par 225 for the tournament. The par score by Stinson was the lowest score by a Navy player this weekend.

Rookie Peter Reilly (Merrimack, N.H.) placed 62nd with a 19-under par 235, while senior captain David Miller (Chillicothe, Ohio) turned in a 6-over par 78 in the final round en route to a 22-over par 238 to finish 73rd. Rounding out the scores for the Mids was freshman Tim Shield (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) who slid back to 74th with his final round 10-over par 82 that pushed his scored to a 27-over par 240.

Meanwhile, sophomore Marcus Heyland (Fort Madison, Iowa) finished 62nd, alongside Reilly, with his three-round 235 (+19). Heyland recorded a 3-over par 75 in the second round, but it was sandwiched between a pair of 8-over par 80s.

"I was really happy with the way Josh and Eric played all weekend, but certainly today's round was their best," said Navy head coach Pat Owen. "The other guys were just a step behind. Overall we did a pretty good job of managing the rainy conditions yesterday and a pretty good wind today.

"Hopefully we'll put it all together and be ready to go next weekend in what will be a challenging tournament for us."

Navy will be back in action on Friday when it heads to Greenville, N.C. to take part in the three-day Ironwood Intercollegiate hosted by East Carolina.