HELLERTOWN, Pa. — Shooting the second-lowest round of the day (+2, 290), the Navy men's golf team made the biggest move in the final standings, jumping from 10th to fifth Monday afternoon at the 20-team Abarta Coca-Cola Collegiate played at the Steel Club in Hellertown, Pa. The Mids covered the two-day, 36-hole tournament with a 17-over par 593.
"I think we are progressing nicely," said Navy head coach
Pat Owen, whose Mids had not played since opening the spring slate on March 4 and 5. "The weather conditions were severe the last two days, but that's the Northeast in the spring. That's what we could face when we travel to Colgate for the Patriot League Championship and that's why I felt it was important to schedule a schedule that featured tournaments around the Northeast this spring.
"We have improved considerably since our opener at East Carolina, but we will continue to work on our fundamentals and getting reps in."
Robert Morris carded the low round on Monday with a 1-under par 287 to win the tournament over the host Lafayette by four strokes. Robert Morris posted a 9-over par 585 (298-287), followed by Lafayette (589), Bucknell (290), Iona (592) and Navy (593). Colgate, who held the lead after the first round with a 2-over par 290, fell back in the second round to place sixth (594).
Meanwhile, Bucknell's Chris Tanabe was crowned the individual medalist, holding off Iona's Kritsarin Oukosavanna. Tanabe finished the tournament 3-under (141), while Oukosavanna began the second round in 14th but shot up the standings with a 4-under par 68, the tournament's low score, to finish just a stroke behind Tanabe with a 142.
Fighting high wins and cold temperatures on Monday and Tuesday, the Mids' overall ball striking improved from the opening round to Tuesday's final round. Four of Navy's five players improved their scores from Monday, while the fifth mirrored his mark from the first round.
Reigning Patriot League Golfer of the Year
Charlie Musto (So / Sterling, Va.) shaved four strokes off his score on Tuesday, posting a 1-under par 71 to secure his second top-10 finish of the 2018-19 season. Musto covered the tournament with a 2-over par 146 to tie for ninth. Meanwhile,
Griffin Peters (Sr / Fountain Hills, Ariz.) was just a stroke outside of the top 10 and placed 12th with a 3-over par 147. He shot par on Tuesday following a 3-over performance on Monday.
Freshman
Chad Deegan (Costa Mesa, Calif.) put together rounds of 75 and 74 to place 23rd with a 149, while
Matthew Starobin (Sr / Davidsonville, Md.) finished 33rd (78-73=151) and
Ward Wilkinson (So / Ashland, Va.) took 64th (78-78=156).
Navy will be off the next two weeks before returning to play its final two tournaments of the regular season the week of April 15. The Mids will compete at the one-day Explorer Invitational on Monday, April 15 before playing host to the annual Navy Spring Invitational on April 19 and 20.
### Go Navy ###
