GRAND HAVEN, Mich. —  The Navy men's golf team opened its 2023-24 campaign this week, placing 17th at the three-day Folds of Honor Collegiate (American Dunes Golf Club / par 72 / 7,128 yards) played in Grand Haven, Mich. The Mids concluded play with a 54-hole mark of 936, carding their low round of the tournament in Wednesday's final round (311-320-305).

Jack Tarzy (So / Medford, N.J.) was the Mids' top placewinner, tying for 33rd with a 7-over par 220 (75-73-72). Team captain Benjamin Valdez (Jr / Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) placed 65th with a 17-over par 230 (76-80-74). Danny Auffant (Fr / Bellevue, Wash.) made his collegiate debut, turning in a 25-over par 238 (82-82-74), followed by Noah Nuez (Jr / Laveen, Ariz.) in 86th and Andrew Wilkinson (Jr / Ashland, Va.) in 87th. It was Wilkinson's first appearance for the Mids since last year's Army-Navy Star Match in October after which he had season-ending shoulder surgery.

The three service academy teams turned in comparable scores over the three days with Navy nestled in the middle. While both Air Force and Army sputtered in the final round, the Mids found their stride, turning it their best 18 holes of the tournament and ultimately topping the Black Knights in the final standings.

Tournament Notes
• Notre Dame shot a 2-under par 282 in the final round to leap past four other teams and claim the team title with an 8-over par 860 (287-291-282).
• The Irish bested runner-up Michigan State, the leader heading into the final round, by just a single stroke. Rounding out the top 5 were Michigan State (291-279-291=861), Arkansas (289-285-289=863), South Carolina (282-291-294=867) and Arizona (283-290-297=870).
• An incredibly competitive field, players from 11 different programs represented to the top 10 finishers (3 players finished tied for 9th).
• Kansas' Cecil Belisle claimed individual medalist honors with his 1-under par 212 (68-72-72), holding off Memphis' Jack Tanner, Notre Dame's Angelo Marcon, Kentucky's Alex Goff and NC State's Nick Mathews who all shot par (213) for the tournament. Both Tanner and Marcon nearly pulled an incredibly upset as both players began the final round in 16th place, but the duo shot 3-under over the final 18 to tie for second.
• This was the second year the Folds of Honor Tournament was played and featured teams from across the country, including all three service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) and two Historically Black Colleges & Universities.  Howard, Florida A&M will represent the 41 percent of Folds of Honor recipients who are minorities and the GCAA and Black Golf Coaches Association of America partnership to help grow opportunities for HBCU and minority college golf.
• Proceeds from the event will benefit the Folds of Honor, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit whose mission it is to provide back, through scholarships, to the families of America's fallen or disabled military and first responders. To date, the organization has given out 44,000 scholarships.

Up Next
Navy will spend the next several weeks preparing for the annual Star Match against archrival Army which is slated to be played Oct.5-6 at the Naval Academy Golf Club. The last time the two programs played the annual dual in Annapolis (2022), then-senior Nicholas Klock sank a four-foot putt for par on the first playoff hole to lead Navy to a sudden death victory in Annapolis.

### Go Navy ###