The Navy men's golf team shot a school-record 7-under par 281 in the final round of the 19-team Invitational at Savannah Harbor to place 12th in the spring opener with a 26-over par 890. The Mids opened the two-day, 54-hole tournament on Saturday with scores of 309 and 300 in unseasonably chilly and windy conditions. Navy closed out the tournament by shooting the low round of tournament by one stroke over Wright State's final round of 282.

Sorting Out The Finish
Despite opening the tournament in 10th place with a 13-over par 301, Valparaiso rallied to shoot rounds of 283 (-5) and 285 (-3) and capture the team title with a 5-over par 869. Wright State (299-290-282=871) finished two strokes behind in second, followed by Francis Marion (290-297-291=878), Delaware (294-290-295=879) and Florida A&M (305-287-289=881).

Navy tied Fairleigh Dickinson (302-298-290) for 12th, a stroke behind 11th-place Longwood (305-293-291=889) and 4 strokes behind 10th-place Western Carolina (297-303-286=886).

Wright State's Austin Schoonmaker was one of five players to finish under par, as his 7-under par 209 (69-70-70) paced the field.

Navy Notes
Team captain Thomas Garbee (Sr / Asheville, N.C.) finished 2 strokes out of the top 10 with his 3-over par 219 (73-75-71), while Chad Deegan (So / Costa Mesa, Calif) turned in a 6-over par 22 (78-74-70) to tie for 29th. Ward Wilkinson (Jr / Ashland, Va.) (81-75-71) and Charlie Musto (Jr / Sterling, Va.) (79-79-69) tied for 60th with an 11-over par 227. Nicholas Klock (So / Moraga, Calif.) closed out the group in 71st with a 14-over par 230 (79-76-75).

Musto, who made four birdies in a row, was one of four Navy players to play the final round under par, pacing the Mids with a 3-under par 69. Garbee made six birdies in the final round, while Wilkinson and Deegan were both with bogey-free rounds.

This is the second time this season Navy has broken the record for a single round score in relationship to par. Navy shot a then-record 6-under par 274 in the final round of The Doc Gimmler on Sept. 15 en route to its school-record 834 (-6) and team victory.

What's Ahead
Navy will step aside from competition until March 21-22 when it makes the short trip to Urbana, Md. to play in the Carpet Bagger Classic hosted by Colgate at the Worthington Manor Country Club.

### Go Navy ###