GAINESVILLE, Fla. //  The Navy men's golf team opened its spring ledger this weekend by finishing 15th at the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The Mids covered the par-70 course at Mark Bostick Golf Course with a 54-hole mark of 893, while Chip Deegan (So / Newport Beach, Calif.) finished just a stroke outside of the top 20 to lead the Mids.

Deegan shot par in the opening round and by the end of the first day of competition, he was 1 under after shooting a 69 over the second 18 holes. He closed out the competition with a 2-over par 72 to place 21st with a 1-over par 211. Meanwhile, Jack Tarzy (So / Medford, N.J.), who was Navy's top performer in three events during the fall season, finished the tournament in 72nd with a 15-over par 225 (74-76-75), followed by Derek Weaver (So / Hackettstown, Va.) in 79th (76-77-77=230), Benjamin Valdez (Jr / Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) in 81st (80-73-78=231) and Luke Lombardo (Fr / Severna Park, Md.) in 83rd (76-78-83=237).

Tournament Notes
• Florida claimed its fifth-consecutive Gators Invitational team title by pacing the field with a 26-under par 814 (276-262-276) ... Florida has now won their home tournament 30 times in its 47 years history.
• The 26-under performance is the fourth lowest by par in Gators Invitational history and tied 10th all-time in program history, which was last shot for Florida's national championship title in 2001.
• Florida had a sensational second round, turning in an 18-under par 262 ... it not only was the lowest mark of the tournament, it was the only sub-270 score of the weekend.
• The Gators claimed the crown by just 3 strokes over the Florida "B" squad (270-270-277=817) ... however, by rule Florida can only count one squad towards a team finish
• Despite Nick Gabrelcik (68-65-64=197) earning individual medalist honors and teammate Andrew Riley (67-64-66=198) finishing just a stroke behind, North Florida would finish second with its 13-over par 827 (273-276-278).
• 17th-ranked Florida (292-281-291=864) dominated the field and captured the team title with a 17-stroke victory over second-place Loyola (296-291-294=881).

The Mids will be back in action March 12-13 when they make the trip to Phoeix, Ariz. to compete in the Grand Canyon Invitational played at GCU Golf Club.

### Go Navy ###