Led by Andrew Wilkinson's (Fr / Ashland, Va.) 16th-place 3-over par 147, the Navy men's golf team concluded the regular season by placing 14th among 20 teams at the Abarta Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational held Sunday at Monday at the Steel Club (par 72 / 6,655 yards) in the Lehigh Valley. The  Mids opened the two-day, 36-hole event by shooting a 23-over par 311. However, blue skies and warmer temperatures made for better playing conditions for Monday's final round where Navy shaved 18 strokes off its first-round mark, covering the tournament with a 28-over par 604.

Playing without its senior leaders Chad Deegan (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nicholas Klock (Moraga, Calif.), Navy used the tournament as a primer for the 2022 Patriot League Championship which will also be played at the Steel Club in three weeks.

Wilkinson put together the most consistent rounds, posting Navy's low scores in both rounds with a 75, followed by a 72. Keegan Shreves (Jr / Potomac, Md.), meanwhile, was just 3 strokes behind in 44th. The 2021 All-Patriot League golfer turned in a 5-over par 77 on Sunday before closing out the tournament with a 1-over par 73. Benjamin Valdez (Fr / Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) was 9 over after the first round, but bounced back to tie Wilkinson for the best round of the tournament with a par-72 in Monday's final round to finish 9-over (153). Braxton Tracy (Jr / Huntersville, N.C.) turned in rounds of 78 and 76 to finish just a stroke behind Valdez at 10-over (154), while David Miccoli (Sr / Ludlow, Mass.) closed out play with a 24-over par 168 (85-83).

Tournament Notes
• Iona (292-288) and host Lafayette (297-283) led the field with a 4-over par 580 with Iona taking the crown with a sudden death playoff won on the first hole.
• Lafayette turned in the best round of the tournament in Monday's final round, carding a 5-under par 283 to pull even with Iona after starting the day in fourth.
• Navy was one of six Patriot League teams to compete in the tournament - Lafayette (297-283=580, +4), Bucknell (296-285=581, +5), Lehigh (301-294=595, +19), Navy (311-293=604, +28), Colgate (312-298=610, +34) and Holy Cross (311-302=613, +37).
• The Gaels' Justin Burkhamer earned individual medalist honors with his 6-under par 138 (69-69). He held off Bucknell's Blake Wisdom who entered the final round tied for 10th and rallied to placed second, just 2 strokes behind Burkhamer with a 4-under par 140.
• Michael Robinson of Mount St. Mary's shot the low round of the tournament with a 6-under par 66 in the final round, allowing him to jump from 52nd to fifth in the final standings.

Up Next
Navy is idle until the 2022 Patriot League Championship set for April 29-May 1 at the Steel Club. This year marks the first time in tournament history the 54-hole event will be played over the course of three days.

### Go Navy ###