RALEIGH, N.C. —Anchored by team captain Tim Shield's (Grosse Pointe
Park, Mich.) 10-over par 154, the Navy golf team finished the two-day,
36-hole Wolfpack Spring Open in 15th place out of 17 teams Sunday at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, N.C.
The
Mids headed into the final day of competition deadlocked with
Connecticut for 15th with a 27-over par 315. Both the Huskies and Mids
improved their scores on Sunday
with Connecticut edging out Navy for 14th by one stroke. Connecticut
took 14th with a 46-over par 622 (315-307), while the Mids completed the
tournament with a 47-over par 623 (315-308). Meanwhile, Navy held off
arch rival Army, who shed 27 strokes from its first-round score to place
17th with a 49-over par 625 (326-299).
NC State shot a
tournament-low 283 in the final round to come from behind for the team
win. The Wolfpack claimed the title with a 1-over par 577 (294-283),
while Lamar, who led the tournament after the first 18 holes, placed
second with a 5-over par 581 (292-289). Rounding out the top five were
East Carolina (585, +9), Middle Tennessee State (590, +14) and
Louisville (596, +20).
Lamar's Luke Jerling outdueled Loyola's
Jay Mulieri for the individual title with a 5-under par 139. Both
players produced a 1-under par 71 in the opening round, but Jerling
turned in a 4-under par 68 in the final round to Mulieri's 3-under par.
NC State's Mitchell Sutton shot the low round of the tournament with a
5-under par 67 in the final round, as he jumped from 16th to third in
the final standings and helped lead the Wolfpack to the team title.
Shield
bounced back with flying colors in the final round after registering a
9-over par 81 in the opening round. He led the Mids over the final 18
holes with a 1-over par 73 to finish tied for 48th after beginning the
day nestled in 72nd.
Sophomore Chris House (Raleigh, N.C.) and
freshman Bryce Keene (Bakersfield, Calif.) tied for 62nd with a 13-over
par 157. Keene shot Navy's low round on Saturday
with a 5-over par 77, but slipped in the second round with an 8-over par
80. Meanwhile, House shot the same scores in reverse order.
Senior
Peter Reilly (Merrimack, N.H.), who owns Navy's low stroke average this
season, struggled to find his touch throughout the weekend as he took
68th with a 15-over par 159. Second-year standout Drew Selby
(Charlotte, N.C.) also placed 68th with a 159. Selby matched Keene's
opening-round with a 77, but turned in a 10-over par 82 in Sunday's final round to drop 30 spots in the final standings.
The Mids return to action next week when they play host to the Navy Spring Invitational on Saturday and Sunday at the par-71 Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis.
