Golf Captures Star After Great Comeback

Thursday, October 5

Annapolis, Md.

Army West Point

Navy

Golf Captures Star After Great Comeback

October 06, 2023 | Men's Golf

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Down 4-0 heading into singles matches on Friday, the Army West Point golf team made an incredible comeback to force a playoff, and team captain John Heckel Jr. came through on the first hole to secure the Star.

The Black Knights earned the victory in the first competition in the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA after the two teams were knotted up at 5.5-5.5 after completing all seven singles matches.

Heckel Jr. needed a two-putt on the first playoff and sunk a short tap-in for par to earn the Star for the Black Knights.

Army cut the lead in half with wins in the first two matches of the day on Friday. Samuel Kim won his match 2&1 to give the Black Knights their first points, followed by Heckel Jr.'s 1-up win to make it a 4-2 match.

James Ballato was on fire in his match and won 6&4 to cut the Navy lead to one at 4-3. Rookie Drew Jeffords made his first Army-Navy singles match one to remember with a 5&4 victory and classmate Zach Clark also came out on top in his first singles match at 2&1.

The final match of the day featured senior Lake Kim, who battled on the back nine and was consistent down the stretch to earn the all-square with Navy's Luke Lombardo.

With today's Star victory, the Black Knights have won six of the last seven matchups and have captured the Star 10 times since 2012.

Army 5.5 | Navy 5.5 (Army Wins Star in Playoff)
Four-Ball Matches
Luke Lombardo / Danny Auffant (N) def. John Heckel Jr. / Zach Clark (A), 1-up
Benjamin Valdez / Noah Nuez (N) def. James Ballato / Patrick Song (A), 5&3
Owen Huntington / Derek Weaver (N) def Lake Kim / Samuel Kim (A), 1-up
Jack Tarzy / Jack Teuschl (N) def. Josh Kim / Drew Jeffords (A), 4&3

Singles Matches
John Heckel Jr. (A) def. Jack Tarzy (N), 1-up
Samuel Kim (A) def. Owen Huntington (N), 2&1
Benjamin Valdez (N) def. Joshua Kim (A), 3&1
Zach Clark (A) def. Noah Nuez (N), 2&1
James Ballato (A) def. Jack Teuschl (N), 6&4
Drew Jeffords (A) def. Danny Auffant (N), 5&4
Lake Kim (A) vs. Luke Lombardo (N), AS