• Sport Home
• |
• Roster
• |
• Schedule
• |
• Stats
• |
• Archives

5/18/2003 - Men's Golf
Navy Men's Golf Team Finishes 23rd At NCAA West Regional

AUBURN, Wash.-The Navy men’s golf team finished 23rd at the NCAA West Regionals, which finished play late Saturday night at Washington National Golf Club. The Mids shot a three-day score of 925, which was 61 shots over par. The Mids, who came into the tournament seeded 25th, finished ahead of Austin Peay (+68), Oral Roberts (+76), Central Connecticut State (+85) and Loyola of Md. (+114).

"I was real proud of the way the guys played," said Navy head coach Pat Owen. "All three days we played in less than desirable weather conditions and were stopped on the course numerous times throughout the tournament because of weather, yet it didn’t seem to faze our guys. Our goal was to do better than our seed was and we accomplished that."

The Mids shot a final day score of 307 after shooting a 318 on day one and a 300 on day two. The Mids trailed Xavier, which finished in 22nd place, by six shots. UCLA won the tournament with an even par score of 864. Arizona (+1) finished second, while UNLV (+7) and Georgia (+7) placed third. Other teams advancing to the NCAA Championship, which will be played May 27-30 in Stillwater, Okla., include Arizona State, New Mexico, Washington, USC, Oregon and San Diego State.

Senior Brian Crum and junior Billy Hurley were Navy’s top individuals, each shooting a three-day score of 220, which is four over par. Crum and Hurley tied for 27th place.

Senior Nick Rogers and sophomore Rocco Novellino tied for 128th at 28 over par, while junior Joey Kistler finished 139th at 39 over par.

Michael Letzig of New Mexico won the individual title shooting an eight under par 208, while Michael Putnam of Pepperdine finished second with a six under par 210, including a final day score of 64 that elevated him from 19th to second. Putnam and Tony Giarratano of Denver (-1) advance to the NCAA Championship as the top two golfers not on one of the Top 10 teams that advanced. Crum and Hurley were just five shots behind Giarratano in their bid to qualify as individuals.