ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's golf team defended its home course and won the Navy Spring Invitational with a total score of 27-over par 603. The Midshipmen also had three different players finish in the top four to pace them to their second victory of the spring and second tournament win in program history.
Navy shot a 15-over par 303 on Saturday and then cut three strokes off the team total on Sunday to finish with a 12-over par 300 on Sunday.
Christine McDonnell (So., Suwanee, Ga.) finished second overall, followed by
Morgan Frazier (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa.) in third and
Shannon Gould (Fr., O'Fallon, Mo.) in fourth place. In the 30-golfer field, four of Navy's five starters finished in the top 10.
"We are very proud of the team," head coach
Nadia Ste-Marie said after the tournament. "We had four players finish in the top 10 and there was some really solid play during both rounds, which was really exciting to see. Christine [McDonnell] played really well during both days. Morgan [Frazier] had a rough start on Saturday but played great over her final 31 holes and Shannon [Gould] finished strong with a 35 on the back nine today. Overall, it was a great tournament and it was a great lead up to the Patriot League Championship this coming weekend. The league tournament will be a fun and exciting tournament."
McDonnell fired back-to-back rounds of even-par 72 to finish the weekend with a 36-hole total of even-par 144. The consistent play was also featured in Frazier's two rounds of golf with a pair of 3-over par 75s to finish at 6-over par 150.
Gould shot a 5-over par 77 during the first round of the tournament, but she rebounded with Navy's second-best score on Sunday at 2-over par 74. Gould finished the tournament at 7-over par 151 to finish just one shot behind Frazier for a top-three spot.
Katie Um (So., Chesapeake, Va.) notched the Midshipmen's final top-10 finish of the tournament and was in a four-way tie for eighth place. The sophomore notched two rounds of 7-over par 79 and finished the weekend with a score of 14-over par 158.
Amelia Root (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla) capped off the Navy starting five this weekend and finished tied for 16th at 17-over par 161.
Amelia Root first shot a 9-over par 81 and then she cut a stroke off of her score in the second round and carded an 8-over par 80.
Competing as individuals,
Jacqueline Cherry (Fr., Ellicott City, Md.) placed 19th at 19-over par 163,
Emily Root (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) was just behind at 22-over par 166 to place 20th and
Micah Vincent (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) rounded out the Midshipmen in a tie for 23rd at 27-over par 171.
Cherry first carded a 12-over par 84 on Saturday then broke 80 on Sunday with a 7-over par 79.
Emily Root improved from the first round to the second after posting a 12-over par 84 and then a 10-over par 82 in the two rounds. Vincent sat inside the top 20 after day one with an 11-over par 83 but slipped on day two after finishing at 16-over par 88.
Navy's team total of 27-over par 603 was four strokes ahead of second play Boston University. Boston finished with a 31-over par 607. The Terriers matched the Midshipmen's round of 12-over par 300 on Sunday but shot a 19-over par 307 on Saturday.
Hanako Kawasaki of Boston won medalist honors with two rounds under par. She first posted a 3-under 69 in the first round and then went 4-under par 68 in the second round to finish at 7-under par 137.
Navy has concluded the regular season and will now compete at the Patriot League Women's Golf Championship at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Va., on Saturday and Sunday this coming week.
