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Sept. 7, 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's golf team opens its 2006 fall campaign Saturday, playing host to the Navy Fall Invitational. Saturday and Sunday's action will take place at the par 71 USNA Golf Course in Annapolis with 18 holes set for both days.

The Midshipmen will field three teams - Navy Blue, Gold and White - in the 17-team tournament, along with Birmingham Southern, Delaware, Duquesne, George Washington, Iona, Loyola, North Dakota State, Penn, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, Siena, Temple, Towson and Winthrop.

In the 11 years the Navy Fall Invitational has been played, only one team has claimed the tournament title more than once - Navy. The Mids won the inaugural tournament in 1993 and again in '95 and '96. Besides Navy, just two previous winners are among this year's field - Winthrop ('02) and Towson ('04).

George Mason and Siena held a two-stroke lead over George Washington after the first round a year ago, but the Patriots (293-285 - 578, +10) claimed the title after turning in a 1-over par final round, outdistancing George Washington and Towson by 17 strokes. Towson has performed particularly well in Navy's season-opening tournament where the Tigers have finished either first or second in the last three years, including a win in 2004. Saint Joseph's has produced the individual medalist three times, including in each of the last two years. In 2004, it was Sean Seese (143, E), while a year ago then-sophomore Colin Corrigan (143, +1) was crowned the individual champion after beating out Steve Alminas of Winthrop and Bryan Bigley of Siena in an 11-hole tie breaker.

After losing just one letterwinner off last year's squad, head coach Pat Owen is anxious to get back out on the links and build upon the progress his Midshipmen had made by the end of last spring.

"We are looking forward to hosting the fall classic and hope to field a young, but solid Navy team," said the 16th-year coach. "We have a couple of seniors on the team, but for the most part, we are primarily looking for our sophomore and junior classes to step up to the challenge this year. I'm looking forward to starting off the season on a positive note by playing on our home course."

The Mids capped off the 2006 spring campaign with a third-place finish at the Patriot League Tournament played in Annapolis. Three players garnered All-Patriot League kudos, including junior Chris Renninger (Darnesville, Md.) who tied for fifth place with a 13-over par 226. A product of Sidwell Friends School, Renninger took three strokes off his average between the fall and spring seasons and owned a 77.22 average during the spring.

Bethesda, Md., native Ryan Wielgus was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year after tying for eighth at the league championship, the highest finish among the league's freshmen. Wielgus owned Navy's low average for the year as a newcomer, posting a 76.44 average over the course of 25 rounds in 11 tournaments.

Sophomore Eric Stinson (Spotsylvania, Va.) owned the Mids' low average in the spring where he covered five tournaments with a 76.50 average. He placed among the top 10 once and the top 20 twice. He finished just outside of the top 10 at the Patriot League Tournament, placing 12th with a 20-over par 233. Fellow sophomore David Miller (Chillicothe, Ohio) had an outstanding fall campaign a year ago where he posted a 76.18 stroke average in the five tournaments in which he played. Miller placed in top 20 five times and the top 10 three times. His best finish was at the Rehoboth Beach Fall Invitational where he turned in a 5-over par 147. Meanwhile, he tied with Miller for 12th at the Patriot League Championship.

One of the veteran members of the team is junior Erich Schoen (Sylvania, Ohio) who was the medalist at last year's Navy Spring Invitational where he finished 3-under par with a 139. Schoen finished his sophomore campaign with a 77.40 stroke average.

2006 Fall Schedule: Sept. 9-10 - Navy Fall Invitational (Annapolis, Md.); Sept. 18-19 - Towson Fall Invitational (Myersville, Md.); Sept. 25 - Rehoboth Beach Fall Invitational (Rehoboth, Del.); Sept. 30-Oct. 1 - Army (West Point, N.Y.); Oct. 13-14 - Penn Invitational (Philadelphia, Pa.); Oct. 23-24 - Service Academy Classic (Fort Worth, Texas).

### Go Navy ###