The Navy men's golf team will travel to West Point, N.Y. this week to battle its archrival in the 85th edition of the Army-Navy Star Match. The West Point Golf Course will serve as the backdrop for the two-day event which will be scored as match play, or the more familiar Ryder Cup-style format, with four four-ball matches played on Friday (8:30 am) and capped off with seven singles matches on Saturday (8:30 am). The first team to reach six points will be declared the winner.

Army-Navy Star Series Presented by USAA
This week's golf match marks the fourth 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/Match/Meet 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.  

The Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA is currently deadlocked at one win apiece. Army swept the Mids at West Point in volleyball, while Navy evened the series with a 27-13 victory by the sprint football team. In addition to the men's golf competition on Friday and Saturday, the two men's soccer programs will meet in Chester, Pa. on Friday at 7:00 pm.

Navy leads the all-time overall series against Army, 1142-859-44 (56.9), including a 171-115-4 (59.7) mark over the last 10 years. Additionally, the Mids own a 125-74-4 (62.6) advantage in the Star Series over the last 10 years. Last year, Navy had unprecedented success in both the Star and overall series, posting a 20-4 (83.3) mark in Star competitions and a 27-9 record in overall contests against Army.

Series History
Navy's golf team enters this year's competition with a 45-38-1 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 82 previously-played duals, 57 have utilized the familiar Ryder Cup format, including each of the last 20 (9 wins by Navy, 11 by Army). Army holds a 22-15 lead in Star Matches played at West Point, however, Navy has won six of the last 10 played on its archrival's course. Meanwhile, four of the last seven Star Matches played at West Point have been decided by a point (2006, 2010, 2016) or via a sudden death playoff (2008).

Army-Navy Rewind
In one of the most exciting conclusions in the history of the Army-Navy men's golf Star Match, Navy's Nicholas Klock sank a four-foot putt for par on the first playoff hole to lead the Midshipmen to a sudden death victory over their arch rivals at the Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis a year ago. The win was Navy's first in the series since capturing a 6-5 win at West Point in 2016.

Navy 5.5, Army 5.5
Navy Wins In A Playoff
Playoff: Nicholas Klock (N) def. Tom Katsenes, 1-up

Four-Ball Matches (Army 2.5, Navy 1.5)
Nicholas Klock-Chad Deegan (N) def. Dragon Theam-Joshua Kim, 3 & 1
Saumuel Kim-Lake Kim def. Keegan Shreves-Andrew Wilkinson (N), 1-up
Tom Katsenes-Gary Bullard v. Ben Burton-Braxton Tracy (N), 5 & 3
Noah Nuez-Benjamin Valdez (N) halved Marshall Daniel-John Heckel Jr.

Singles Matches (Navy 4.0, Army 3.0)
Keegan Shreves (N) halved Tom Katsenes
David Miccoli (N) def. Gary Bullard, 1-up
Noah Nuez (N) halved Dragon Theam
Andrew Wilkinson (N) def. Samuel Kim, 5 & 4
John Heckel Jr. def. Benjamin Valdez (N), 4 & 2
Nicholas Klock (N) def. Lake Kim, 6 & 5
Marshall Daniel def. Chad Deegan (N), 1-up

More on the Mids
Five players on Navy's 10-man roster have previously seen action in the Star Match, including senior Keegan Shreves (Potomac, Md.) who has played in each of the last three duals against the Black Knights. Meanwhile, senior Braxton Tracy (Huntersville, N.C.) and sophomores Noah Nuez (Laveen, Ariz.), Benjamin Valdez (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) and Andrew Wilkinson (Ashland, Va.) made their Army-Navy debut in last year's match.

Navy head coach Jimmy Stobs will make his Star Match debut after joining the program prior to the Folds of Honor Collegiate held last week at the American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Mich. The Mids opened their season Sept. 10-11 at The Doc Gimmler where they shot a 13-over par 853 (290-278-285) to place 12th out of 15 teams at the par-70 Red Course at Bethpage State Park. Making his collegiate debut, sophomore Owen Huntington (Camas, Wash.) paced the Mids with his 1-under par 209 which featured a pair of 69s in the second and final rounds. He finished just 2 strokes outside of the top 20 in 27th. Huntington again led the Mids at the Folds of Honor Collegiate where he shot a 2-under par 70 in the final round and 233 (+17) for the tournament.

Huntington owns the Mids' low average (73.67) over the course of 6 rounds, followed by senior Braxton Tracy at 74.00 and Noah Nuez at 74.33 with each playing 3 rounds. Shreves, a two-time All-Patriot League player, has also turned in a 74.33 average this year, having finished with the team's second-lowest score in both of Navy's tournaments this season.

About the Black Knights
Army has competed in three tournaments this fall, opening the season at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate where it tied for sixth out of 17 teams with a 5-under par 563 (281-282). The Black Knights placed last among a 15-team field at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invite with a 72-over par 912 (307-303-302). Army also competed at the Folds of Honor Collegiate where they placed 16th out of 18 teams with a 79-over par 943 (316-322-305).

Seven of the eight players who saw action in last year's Army-Navy Star Match return for the Black Knights, while of eight of their 11 players on the roster have played in at least one of the last three Star Matches. Samuel Kim, Lake Kim, Tom Katsenes, Gary Bullard, John Heckel Jr. and Marshall Daniel all scored wins in last year's victory over the Mids, winning either their singles match or combining to win a four-ball match.

### Go Navy ###