The Navy men's golf team closed out the two-day, 54-hole Augusta Haskins Award Invitational (Forest Hills Golf Club / par 72 / 7,086 yards)with a 51-over par 915 (309-300-306) to place 15th in what marked the Mids' second competition in the span of a week. Navy opened its spring season by competing in The Hayt last Sunday and Monday where it also finished 15th.
Team captain
Chad Deegan (Sr / Newport Beach, Calif.) was the Mids' top placewinner, tying for 59th with a 10-over par 226 (77-73-76). Freshman Ben Valdez (Stevenson Rach, Calif.) made his first appearance of the spring campaign and placed 63rd with a 12-ovear par 228 (77-76-75).
Keegan Shreves (Jr / Potomac, Md.) took 66th with a 17-over par 233, followed by
Nicholas Klock (Sr / Moraga, Calif.) in 68th and
Andrew Wilkinson (Fr / Ashland, Va.) in 73rd.
Tournament Notes
• This year's field was highlighted by 3 teams ranked n the top 20 and 8 teams in the top 50.
• Texas, who placed four of its five golfers inside the top 10, won the team title with a 50-under par 814 (272-266-276).
• Not only did the Longhorns lead from the beginning, they shot the three lowest rounds of the tournament with Oklahoma State matching the third-lowest round with a 12-under par 276 in the opening round.
• Texas, ranked 12th by Golfstat, won the tournament by 26 strokes (-50 to -24) over Oklahoma State, who came into the weekend ranked No. 2 in the country.
• Behind Texas were No. 2 Oklahoma State (276-278-286=840), No. 24 Illinois (287-278-283=848), No. 13 Notre Dame (278-283-288=849) and No. 28 South Carolina (288-280-291=859), who all finished the tournament under par.
• The Longhorns' Pierceson Coody earned individual medalist honors with his 17-under par 199 (67-66-66). South Carolina's Evans Lewis, Oklahoma State's Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra and Notre Dame's Tichi Kho tied for second with an 11-under par 205.
"The course was set up to play exceptionally difficult, but we take away some great cues for the stretch run to the Patriot League Championship at the end of the month," said Navy head coach
Pat Owen. "
Andrew Wilkinson and Ben Valdez, both freshmen, turned in solid performances in their first national event, while Chad, Nick and Keegan all struck the ball well, and their scores should improve as they tighten up their short games.
"Overall, it was a great experience for our golfers to compete against the best college golfers and there is no doubt our team will improve as a result of the opportunities we've had the last week at The Hayt and this weekend."
Up Next
Navy will play its final tournament before the conference championship when it travels to Pennsylvania for the Abarta Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational April 10-11. The Steel Club will be the host venue and will also play host to the 2022 Patriot League Championship set for April 29-May 1.
### Go Navy ###
