OAKMONT, Pa. // Navy senior golfer
Danny Auffant (Bellevue, Wash.) shot a 4-over par 74 in the final round and overcame a three-stroke deficit to claim individual medalist honors at the 2026 Commander-In-Chief's Cup played Tuesday and Wednesday at the historic Oakmont County Club. Auffant was the class of the field, shooting a 15-over par 225 (76-75-74) over 54 holes.
In Wednesday's final round, Auffant shot par on the back nine and his birdie on the 17th hole gave him the lead for good. Air Force's Eli Huntington also put together a solid final round that featured three birdies on the back nine, but he would come up a stroke short in his bid to catch Auffant. Huntington placed second with a 16-over par 226 (75-76-73). Army's Drew Jeffords shot the low score of the tournament on Wednesday, along with teammate Andre Chang, but he, too, would fall short, finishing two strokes behind Auffant in third with a 17-over par 227 (79-77-71).
Navy sophomore
Josh Durthaler (Dunwoody, Ga.) held on for a top-10 finish, taking 10th with a 23-over par 233 (78-78-77), while
Hudson Mitchell (So / Pensacola, Fla.) finished two strokes back in 11th (85-72-78=235). Classmates
Payton Cowhey (Fr / Tallahassee, Fla.) and
Elijah Estonilo (Fr / Allen, Texas) tied for 16th with a 32-over par 242,
Sebastian Alonzo (So / Azusa, Calif.) placed 19th with a 35-over par 245 (78-82-85),
Collin Alstrin (Fr / Prosper, Texas) finished 21st with a 40-over par 250 and
Tim Luckett (So / Annapolis, Md.) turned in a 44-over par 254 (81-91-82) to place 22nd.
While this marked the fourth year the tournament has been played between Air Force, Army and Navy, it was the first time it used a medal match play format to determine the team champion. During each 18-hole round (three rounds total), there were three individual matches occurring inside each grouping - Army vs. Navy, Air Force vs. Navy and Air Force vs. Army. Each match was worth one point, while a match resulting in a tie awarding half a point to both players. A total of 24 points were awarded each round (3 points per group x 8 groupings).
Army secured the team title by amassing 30.5 points, followed by Air Force with 23.5 points and Navy with 18.
Navy will play its final tournament of the fall season next Monday and Tuesday when it travels to Oxford, Pa. to play in the Blue Hen Intercollegiate at Wyncote Golf Club.
### Go Navy ###
