The Navy men's golf team will travel to West Point, N.Y. this weekend to battle its archrival in the 83rd edition of the Army-Navy Star Match played at the West Point Golf Course. The two-day, 36-hole event will be scored as match play, or the more familiar Ryder Cup-style format, with four four-ball matches played on Saturday (9:00 am) and seven singles matches slated for Sunday (9:00 am). The first team to reach six points will be declared the winner.
Only guests of the competitors (4 per player) for each team will be allowed to attend the Star Match due to the current COVID 19 climate. Spectators must wear masks throughout the day and follow social distancing protocols
Army-Navy Star Series Presented by USAA
This weekend's golf match marks the 14th among 24 Army-Navy Star competitions played over the course of the academic year that determine the winner of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. The annual showdown between the two rivals in each sport is deemed the Star Game with the athletes from the winning team receiving a Star for their letter sweaters. For those sports who face Army multiple times in a season, the Star Game is designated prior to the start of the year.
Heading into the weekend, Navy owns an 8-5 lead in the Star Series and a 9-7 advantage overall against the Black Knights. There are four Army-Navy events scheduled to be held at West Point this weekend - men's tennis (1:00 pm) and men's and women's swimming (2:00 pm) and diving (11:00 am) will be held on Saturday, while golf will cover both Saturday and Sunday. The remaining Star Games include men's lacrosse on April 24 in Annapolis and baseball on May 8 in West Point.
Navy leads the all-time overall series against Army, 1106-841-44 (56.6), including a 460-302-11 (60.2) mark over the last 25 years. Meanwhile, the Mids own a 343-190-11 (64.1) advantage in the Star Series over the last 25 years.
Series History
Navy enters this weekend's competition with a 44-37-1 advantage over the Black Knights in the annual men's golf dual which was first played in 1939 at Sherwood Forest Golf Club in Sherwood Forest, Md. Among the 80 previously-played duals, 55 have utilized the familiar Ryder Cup format, including each of the last 18 (8 wins by Navy, 10 by Army). The Black Knights have won three in a row against the Mids with Navy last claiming victory behind a 6-5 decision at West Point in 2016.
Army holds a 21-15 lead in Star Matches played at West Point, however, Navy has won six of the last nine played on its archrival's course. Meanwhile, four of the last six Star Matches played at West Point have been decided by a point (2006, 2010, 2016) or via a sudden death playoff (2008).
The first 55 meetings between Army and Navy were held during the spring months, however in the fall of 1993, the competition began the transition to being played in the fall. The 1993, '94, '95 and '96 events were played in October or their respective year, however, the next two were held in April of 1998 and March of 1999. The competition was pushed back to the fall beginning in October of 1999 with each of the last 21 Star Matches contested in the fall.
More on the Mids
In his 31st season leading Navy, head coach
Pat Owen has a veteran team that features eight juniors and seniors, all of which are expected to make the trip this weekend to New York. Team captain
Charlie Musto (Sr / Sterling, Va.) and
Ward Wilkinson (Sr / Ashland, Va.) will both make their fourth appearance in the annual Star Match, while
Michael Brennan (Sr / Locust Valley, N.Y.) and
Jake Miles (Sr / Fredericksburg, Va. have appeared in each of the last two. Juniors
Chad Deegan (Newport Beach, Calif.) and
Nicholas Klock (Moraga, Calif.) both made their Army-Navy debut a year ago, while classmates
Ben Burton (Charleston, S.C.) and
David Miccoli (Ludlow, Mass.), meanwhile, will make their first Army-Navy appearance this weekend.
Will Meshad (So / Atlanta, Ga.) and
Keegan Shreves (So / Potomac, Md.) have seen playing time this spring and could also factor into the lineup. Shreves participated in the Star Match a year ago, earning a 3 and 1 win over Dragon Theam in single action.
Dating back to late October when Navy carded a 356-367 victory over Towson, the Mids have participated in five tournaments or duals. They placed fourth at the 11-team Battle at Rum Pointe in late March to open the spring and followed up with an eighth-place finish at the 18-hole Rolling Green Intercollegiate. Last weekend, the Mids captured a 2.5-0.5 win over George Washington before dropping a 2-1 decision to Howard to place second at Match Play By the Bay. Navy closed out the weekend with a 5-4 victory over Richmond.
About the Black Knights
Army has competed in three tournaments to date, placing 15th in its opener at the Palmetto Intercollegiate on March 8, 15th at Augusta Haskins Award Invitational and ninth at Tumble Brook Invitational.
Six of the eight players who saw action in last year's Star Match return for the Black Knights, including senior James McKee and sophomore Marshall Daniel who won both their singles and four-ball matches a year ago.
What's Ahead
The Mids will seek their eighth Patriot League Championship team title when the eight league teams converge upon the Naval Academy Golf Club the weekend of May 1-2 to compete in the two-day, 54-hole championship. Navy last won the tournament title in 2018 when
Charlie Musto claimed both Rookie and Player of the Year honors as the tournament's individual medalist. Last year's championship was canceled due to the pandemic.
### Go Navy ###
