ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy women's golf returns to action for its 2020 spring season this coming week as the Midshipmen travel to the Kiawah Island Classic at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Competition is set to take place from Sunday through Tuesday in Kiawah Island, S.C.
The Kiawah Island Classic is set to be the largest collegiate golf tournament in the country as the 2020 field is slated to have 53 teams compete, which is five more than last year's event. The team event will take place over two different courses at the resort on Osprey Point and Oak Point with Cougar Point hosting 16 individuals for the individual tournament.
In the 54-hole event, each team will compete on both Osprey Point and Oak Point over the first two days. On the final day, the top 26 teams heading into the third round will compete at Osprey Point for the tournament championship with teams 27-53 competing at Oak Point in a flight championship. Both Osprey Point and Oak Point are par 72 courses and measure 5,984 yards and 5,677 yards, respectively.
Fellow Patriot League foes, Boston University and Bucknell are set to join Navy in the 53-team field. Host College of Charleston and Stetson are the only two teams ranked in the top 100 of the GolfStat rankings as the Cougars are ranked 58th and the Hatters are ranked 89th overall.
During Navy's five fall events its team average was 304.8 over 13 rounds with the Midshipmen posting a trio of 297s to lead the way. Two of Navy's 297s came at the Bucknell Invitational to start the year en route to winning the tournament. The Midshipmen posted three top-five finishes this fall.
Shannon Gould paced Navy during the fall with an average of 75.9 overall, which was highlighted by winning the Bucknell Invitational with a 7-over par 217. Gould also finished 2019 with a pair of top-five finishes and three top-10 marks. Navy showed its depth throughout the fall with eight different individuals averaging below 80 and Navy's top four has an average below 77.
Gould leads the Navy starting five into this week's competition as she is joined by
Christine McDonnell,
Katie Um,
Angelina Chan and
Morgan Frazier. McDonnell currently holds the program record of lowest career average with a mark of 75.8 over 56 rounds and in her 13 rounds this season, she has an average of 76.0. Um is just behind with an average of 76.1 and Chan has a 76.4 average in her first collegiate season. Frazier -- who is captaining Navy during the 2019-20 season -- currently has an average of 77.5 to start the spring.
Last season, Coastal Carolina and North Florida shared the event title after each team finished at 1-over par 865. North Florida's Sydney Shrader won medalist honors with a 9-under par 207.
This year, each of the two courses will have two waves in shotgun starts over the first two days. The morning waves on Sunday and Monday begin at 8:45 a.m. with the afternoon wave beginning at 1:30 p.m. On Tuesday, there will be one shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.
