Pirates Tee off Navy Fall Invitational This Weekend

ANNAPOLIS, MD. - The Seton Hall women' golf team will return to tournament action this weekend when it plays two rounds of golf at the Navy Fall Invitational in Annapolis, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

Tournament Details:
NAVY FALL INVITATIONAL
Host: U.S. Naval Academy
Location: Annapolis, Md.
Course: U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club
Course Vitals: Par-72, 6,084 yards
Dates: September 30 - October 1, 2023

THE COURSE:
The Naval Academy golf course was realized in 1938, when the U. S. Navy purchased the surrounding land on Greenbury Point in order to expand their radio communications facility. The acquired land included the eighteen-hole golf course developed in 1928 by the Greenbury Point Yacht and Country Club, but had become abandoned during the Great Depression. Over the next two years, the Navy restored nine of the eighteen original holes and in 1940, the Naval Academy Golf Club opened for play. In 1942, William Flynn was contracted to design and develop a course composed around the existing nine holes. Flynn's selection was an ideal choice, given his uncanny ability to blend manufactured features with the natural landscape.

After two years, Flynn's redesigned Naval Academy course debuted in 1944. The finished course included eleven holes south of Greenbury Point Road and seven holes north of the main road, and incorporated the rolling terrain of inlets and surrounding tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay, along with views of the Bay Bridge in the distance. Further expansion of the radio facility eliminated two of the holes south of the road and two holes, the present numbers 13 and 14 were added. This completed the layout that exists today with the front nine south of the road and the back nine north of the road. Flynn's design emphasized his strategy of "preferred line of play" in which the golfer is encouraged to place his shot with thought for advantage on the subsequent shot.

THE FORMAT:
Teams will play five golfers and count the four lowest scores per round.

THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Navy, the field is comprised of 15 other teams including: Bryant, Bucknell, Fairleigh Dickinson, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Howard, Lafayette, LIU, Maryland, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Stonehill, Towson, Wagner and William & Mary.

THE LINEUP:
Seton Hall will be bringing the following lineup, in order as indicated, to Navy.

Ginevra Zavagli, Senior
Renee Rane, Freshman
Ana Sarrias Pro, Junior
Anne-Sofie Ekman, Sophomore
Lara Todorovic, Sophomore

LAST TIME OUT:
Senior Ginevra Zavagli (Rome, Italy) fired a 2-over-par, 73, in the final round to assist the Pirates to an 11th place finish at the Princeton Invitational on Sept. 17. Zavagli, the Pirates' leader after two rounds, was again the team's top performer in round three. She had four birdies in route to a 2-over-par, 73, in round three, which shot her six spots up the leader board. For the tournament, she tied for 17th place among 72 individual golfers with a 9-over-par, 72-77-73-222. A trio of golfers tied for the individual lead at 2-under-par.

As a team, The Hall shot a 26-over-par, 310, in round three. For the tournament, the Pirates placed 11th with a 71-over-par, 307-306-310-923. BIG EAST foe Georgetown won the team title at 10-over-par, while another conference opponent, St. John's, placed eighth at 62-over-par.

THE SCHEDULE:
The tournament will begin with tee times beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. For round one, The Hall will be paired with golfers from Howard and William & Mary and will tee off hole No. 1 beginning at 9:45 a.m. On Sunday, the field will play one final round with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m.

THE RESULTS:
Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament via Golfstat.com. Complete results of each day's events will also be available following competition at SHUpirates.com.