The Navy men's golf team shot the weekend's third-lowest score among the 17-team field, including the second-lowest in Sunday's final round, to tie for second at the season-opening Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate Sunday at the Hop Meadow Country Club in Simsbury, Connecticut. The Mids entered the day in a three-way tie for fifth, but surged ahead with a 4-over par 292 over the final 18 holes to close out the tournament with a 14-over par 590 (298-292).
    
Sorting Out The Finish
Harvard was the class of the field, shooting under par in both rounds and claiming a 21-stroke victory with a 7-under par 569 (281-288). The top three individual place winners hailed from Harvard, including Adam Xiao who took medalist honors with a 5-under par 139 (68-71). Xiao was the only player in the field to shoot under par in both rounds.

Navy utilized the second-lowest round of the day to push up from its fifth-place start on Sunday to tie Columbia for second. The Lions sat two strokes in front of the Mids heading into the final round with an 8-over par 296, and despite shaving off two strokes from their opening-day score, Columbia ultimately was unable to distance itself from the rallying Mids as both teams finished 14-over (590).

Penn also put forth a strong round on Sunday with a 5-over par 293 to rally from eighth to fourth (299-293=592), while Holy Cross held off Bryant (294-300=594) and Iona (292-302=594) to take fifth with a 17-over par 593 (298-295).

Navy Notes
Nicholas Klock (So / Morago, Calif.) paced the Mids with his second career top-10 finish. Klock covered the 36-hole tournament with a 1-over par 145 (73-72) to capture a personal-best seventh-place finish. He previously finished among the top 10 a year ago at the Explorer Invitational where he shot an 8-over par 150 to tie for 10th among a field of 41. Today's field featured 90 players.

Just three strokes separated the remaining four players on the Mids' roster. Charlie Musto (Jr / Sterling, Va.) finished just a stroke outside of the top 20 with his 4-over par 148. The 2018 Patriot League Player of the Year opened the weekend by shooting par, but was unable to replicate that mark on Sunday and posted a 76.

Team captain Thomas Garbee (Sr / Asheville, N.C.) struggled mightily in the opening round with a 6-over par 78, but his experience and focus helped lay the groundwork for his team-low 1-under par 71 in the final round. Garbee finished 25th.

Tying for 36th with a 7-over par 151 were Chad Deegan (So / Costa Mesa, Calif) and Ward Wilkinson (Jr / Ashland, Va.). Like Garbee, Deegan got off to a slow start with a 78. But Deegan, too, rallied and shot a 2-over par 73 in the final round. Wilkinson, meanwhile, was consistent throughout the weekend, turning in rounds of 75 and 76.

Thoughts On Opening Weekend
"I'm proud of the effort the team gave, especially gaining three spots over the final round, but we have room for improvement if we want to achieve our team goals," said 30th-year Navy head coach Pat Owen. "I was happy to see Nick play so well, and Thomas and Chad did a nice job of regrouping today.  It was great to get out and play and a solid start to our season, but I'm looking forward to returning home and fine-tuning some areas before we compete next week in New York."

Up Next
The Mids return to action next weekend when they compete at the annual Doc Gimmler Invitational at the Bethpage Red Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. Navy took seventh in last year's 54-hole tournament and shot its low round of the year with a 2-under par 278 in the final round. Charlie Musto shot the low individual round of the year, as well, carding a 3-under par 67 over the final 18 holes.

### Go Navy ###