Making his collegiate debut, Navy freshman Braxton Tracy (Huntersville, N.C.) helped guide the Navy men's golf team to a 12th-place finish at the two-day, 36-hole Lehigh Invitational played at Saucon Valley Golf Club in Bethlehem, Pa. A youthful Navy squad, made up of three freshmen, a sophomore and the lone senior on the team, battled not only the cool, windy conditions, but also the speedy greens on the Grace Course posed a challenge, as the Mids shot a 62-over par 638 (317-321).
    
Sorting Out The Finish
Holy Cross shot the low round of the tournament over the final 18 holes (291, +3) to win the team title with a 16-over par 592 (301-291). Army made the jump from fourth to second in the final standings with a 22-over par 598, while Rider, who led after the opening round, (602, +26), Iona (603, +27) and Lafayette (603, +27) rounded out the top five.

Army's Justin Williamson, meanwhile, covered the course by shooting par to earn individual medalist honors (74-70=144).

Navy Notes
Tracy, who shot par on the front nine in both rounds, led the way for the Mids with a 33rd-place finish among 75 participating players in the tournament. Playing in his first collegiate tournament, Tracy put together back-to-back rounds of 6-over par 78 to finish 12-over and just three strokes out of the top 20.

Team captain Thomas Garbee (Sr / Asheville, N.C.) and Nicholas Klock (So / Moraga, Calif.) closed out a hectic week by placing 56th and 65th, respectively. Both players represented Navy earlier in the week (Monday-Tuesday) at the Phoenix Invitational before mobilizing a second time to play at the Lehigh Invitational. Garbee finished 17-over (79-82=161), while Klock was 20-over (82-82).

Will Meshad (Fr / Atlanta, Ga.) tied with Garbee for 56th with his 161 (78-83), while J.D. Patterson (Fr / Bluffton, S.C.) fell in at 62nd with a 163 (84-79).

Thoughts from the Coach
"This was an extremely busy week for our team with a handful of our players competing in two tournaments in less than seven days," said 30th-year Navy head coach Pat Owen. "That being said, we were able to get some of our young players some valuable experience. Saucon Valley is a challenging championship course and four of our five players were playing it for the first time this weekend.

"We've had a solid fall season that will help us as we continue to hone our skills in preparation for the Patriot League Championship in April. We are looking forward to closing out our season on a positive note next weekend at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational."

Up Next
Navy will close out its fall season next weekend when it travels to Loxley, Alabama to play in the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational hosted by South Alabama and held at the Steelwood Country Club.

### Go Navy ###