ANNAPOLIS, Md. – For the third time this season, junior Mara Hirtle of the Navy women's golf team has earned Patriot League Women's Golfer of the Week, the league office announced Wednesday.
 
Hirtle set a program record en route to a first-place finish at the Lehigh Invitational, also helping Navy take first place in the team standings. Hirtle achieved a program-record 36-hole score of 1-under par 143 to sit tied for first with Quinnipiac's Kaylee Sakoda before entering a playoff round.
 
The Pinehurst, N.C., native shot her way into a tie for first place after Monday's opening round at 1-under par 71, posting birdies on the fifth, 13th and 18th holes. She stayed in first after the final round with birdies on the fourth and 18th holes, joined at the top of the leaderboard by Sakoda.
 
Sakoda claimed the individual crown on the fifth playoff hole when she shot par and Hirtle bogeyed after the duo both pared on each of the first four playoff holes.
 
Hirtle's 1-under par 143 score for a 36-hole event eclipsed the previous Navy low of even-par 144 (72-72) set by Christine McDonnell at the 2019 Navy Spring Invitational. It is also Hirtle's second time this season finishing in at least a tie for first place at an event, winning the individual title at the JEL Outer Banks Intercollegiate.
 
Wednesday is Hirtle's third time in four weeks earning the league's weekly honor, sharing the award with junior teammate Stephanie Lee after the pair tied for sixth place at the Navy Fall Invitational and then winning sole possession of the award the following week with her first-place finish at the JEL Outer Banks Intercollegiate. This also gives Navy four-straight PL Golfers of the Week after Bridget Hoang nabbed the honor last Wednesday.
 
For her career, Hirtle has now won Patriot League Women's Golfer of the Week six times since the start of the 2021-22 season.