PANAMA CITY, Fla. // With snow piles lingering and seasonal temperatures hovering in the 30s and 40s, the Navy men's golf team sought refuge and made the trip to Panama City, Fla. this week to compete in its season opener at the Watersound Invitational. Highlighted by 1-over par 281 in the opening round, the Mids completed the 54-hole tournament with a 31-over par 871 to place 12th among a field that featured six teams ranked among the top 45 of the CLIPPD national team rankings and four among the top 11.
For a second-straight year,
Chip Deegan (Jr / Newport Beach, Calif.) led the Mids at the Watersound Invitational where he shot par (210) en route to placing 29th. He opened with a team-low 3-under par 67, before shooting par in the second round and closing out with a 3-over par 73 in Wednesday's final round.
Team captain
Jack Tarzy (Sr / Medford, N.J.) was just two strokes behind Deegan in 38th (+2 / 212). Tarzy also got off to a strong start in the tournament with a 2-under par 68 on Monday, followed by par on Tuesday and a 4-over par 74 over the final 18 holes.
Kaden Ausen (So / Puyallup, Wash.) placed 73rd with a 13-over par 223 (72-79-72), followed by
Ed Scott (So / Lemont, Ill.) in 77th with a 19-over par 229 (76-80-73) and
Josh Durthaler (Fr / Dunwood, Ga.) in 78th with a 20-over par 230 (74-79-77).
Additionally,
Hudson Mitchell (Fr / Pensacola, Fla.) competed as an individual for the Mids and tied Scott for 73rd with a 13-over par 223 (77-72-74).
Tournament Notes
• Eighth-ranked Arkansas (-19 / 821) used a 5-under par final round to push past third-ranked Vanderbilt (-18 / 822) and take the team title by a stroke. The Razorbacks shot an 11-under par 269 in the opening round to take the early lead, but fell to second thanks to the Commodores' tournament-low 13-under par 267 in the second round. Vanderbilt was unable to hold the lead, shooting a 2-over par in the final round.
• While Arkansas and Vanderbilt took the top two spots in the standings, #43 TCU placed third (-10 / 830), followed by co-host Florida State (-9 / 831) in fourth and #9 Ole Miss (-7 / 833) rounded out the top five.
• Three players tied for individual medalist honors (-9 / 201), including Vanderbilt's Michael Riebe who used a 4-under par 66 in the final round to gain four places and a share of the title. TCU's Nathan Miller also shot a 4-under par 66 over the final 18 holes to secure a share of medalist honors, while Daniel Tolf from Ole Miss held on with a 1-over par in the final round.
Navy returns to action March 9-10 when it competes at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate played at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C.
### Go Navy ###
