GLENSIDE, Pa. - Battling wind gusts in upwards of 40 miles per hour, the Navy men's golf team completed the one-day, 36-hole Explorer Invitational with fifth and sixth-place finishes Monday at the par-71 LuLu Country Club in Glenside, Pa. The Mids fielded two teams to compete among the eight-team tournament.

"Once again we faced some incredibly windy playing conditions, but we battled through and continued to work on the different facets of our game," said Navy head coach Pat Owen. "These are some of the same conditions we could play in in a few weeks at the Patriot League Championship.

"I was grateful to have the opportunity to have 10 players out on the course as we continue to evaluate our options for the Navy Spring Invitational this weekend and the Patriot League Championship the weekend of April 27-28 at Colgate."

Villanova led from the opening hole, covering the course with a 24-over par 592 and featured the low round of the tournament (+6, 290). After opening the second round in the fifth place, Drexel rallied to place second with a 595 (301-294), just three strokes out of the lead. Rounding out the field was Temple in third (599), followed by La Salle (608), Navy Blue (306-306=612), Navy Gold (298-317=615), Temple "B" (634) and Niagara (657).

Drexel's Jeffrey Cunningham and Villanova's Matt Davis paced the field with a 4-over par, tying for medalist honors.

Anchoring the Navy Blue squad was senior Griffin Peters (Fountain Hills, Ariz.), who captured his first top-10 finish of the year with an 8-over par 150. He, along with Navy Gold member Nicholas Klock (Fr / Morago, Calif.), posted the Mids' low round of the tournament with a 2-over par 73 over the first 18 holes. Klock, who came into Monday having seen action in just one tournament this year (Georgetown Intercollegiate - fall), recorded his first top-10 finish in a Navy uniform with an 8-over par 150.

Finishing among the top 20 for the Mids were Chad Deegan (Fr / Costa Mesa, Calif.) for the Navy Blue with a 9-over par 151 to take 13th, while Navy Gold's Paul Mauer (Sr / Team Captain / Eagleville, Pa.) and Ward Wilkinson (So / Ashland, Va.) placed 17th with an 1-over par 153.

The Mids return to action on Friday when they play host to the annual Navy Spring Invitational. The 36-hole tournament featuring teams from Binghamton, Lafayette, La Salle, Lehigh, LIU- Brooklyn, Methodist College, Mount St. Mary's, Navy (Blue and Gold), Saint Francis, St. Francis Brooklyn, St. John's and Saint Joseph's will be played at the par-71 Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis.

### Go Navy ###