ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's golf team battled through the toughest weather conditions of the three-day Patriot League Championship on Sunday to move up one spot into third place in the final standings.  The Mids posted a three-day score of +76 (940) to finish behind first-place Boston U.'s +64 (928) and second-place Richmond's +65 (929) at the Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis.

"When you think about it," said Navy head coach Nadia Ste-Marie, "12 shots for a tournament is one shot from a player a day.  That's really not a whole lot; it is close.  It seems like a lot, but it is really close when it comes to golf.  All it takes is one to win, but one shot better a player and we are tied."

Scores soared Sunday due to cold and blustery conditions from before the first tee shots were in the air through the final putt falling.  The four scoring players for the six teams averaged +39 (327) on Sunday after they averaged +30 (318) on Friday and +25 (313) on Saturday.  There were only eight individual rounds in the 70s today after there were a combined 28 such efforts during rounds one (15) and two (13).

Navy's Sunday score of +30 (318) was bettered on the day by Boston U. by only four strokes (+26, 314) and Richmond by just two strokes (+28, 316).  That effort allowed the Mids to pass the Mountain Hawks in the final standings.  Lehigh entered the day in third place five strokes clear of Navy, but the Mountain Hawks posted a +61 (339) during the third round to end the championship at +92 (339).

"We know how tough this course is when it is windy, especially during the spring," said Ste-Marie.  "We did good.  There are still some holes we need to get more comfortable with so we can play better at home under these conditions.  But I am proud of them; they toughed it out and it was a big grind, especially today with it being a little colder." 

Three Mids earned all-league accolades for their respective performances during the championship.  Angelina Chan (Jr., Franklin, Tenn.) placed fifth to earn first-team all-league honors, Stephanie Lee (So., Southlake, Texas) tied for seventh place to garner a spot on the second team and Mara Hirtle (So., Pinehurst, N.C.) placed ninth to join Lee on the second team.  

Each of the three Mids previously received first-team laurels in 2021.

Chan shot a +4 (76) Sunday to post the second-best score by an individual during the final round.  Only tournament medalist FLair Kuan from Boston U., who shot a +2 (74), bettered Chan on the day.  Chan ended the tournament with a score of +18 (234).  Lee recorded a +10 (82) Sunday to tally a +18 (236) for the event.  Hirtle followed her +6 (78) on Saturday with a +7 (79) on Sunday to total a +22 (238) for the event.  

Additionally, Chan and Hirtle made some of the biggest improvements from their respective placements in the field from Saturday to Sunday.  The former began the day tied for 11th place before finishing fifth and the latter started the third round tied for 15th place before ending the championship in ninth place.

Joining Chan and Hirtle in improving her position by six spots on Sunday was Navy's Eve Worden (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.).  She entered the first hole today tied for 19th place and when play ended she was tied for 13th place.  

Besides that trio of Mids, only Richmond's Emily Ward made a six-place improvement from round two to round three.

"That just shows you how tough it was," said Ste-Marie.  "We finished third as a team and had three golfers in the top 10.  We needed that fourth score to help us out.  We are almost there.

"We are in a good place.  We keep growing."

Navy has now placed among the top-three teams in each of the last four times the championship has been contested and five times in the seven years in which the event has had a six-team field.  Those five top-three finishes in seven tries ranks third behind seven from Boston U. and six from Richmond.

Final Team Standings
1. Boston U. +64 (313-301-314=928)
2. Richmond +65 (311-302-316=929)
3. Navy +76 (306-316-318=940)
4. Lehigh +92 (304-313-339-956)
5. Bucknell +119 (336-317-330=983)
6. Holy Cross +145 (338-327-344=1009)