ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The University of Delaware golf team will open its 2008 fall season this Friday and Saturday when the Blue Hens compete in the Navy Fall Classic.

Delaware will be one of 16 teams competing on the par-71 USNA Golf Course in Annapolis. The host Midshipmen will field four teams along with Brown, Cornell, Delaware, George Washington, Iona, La Salle, North Dakota State, Penn, Saint Augustine's, Saint Francis, Saint Joseph's and Siena.

The Blue Hens will be led by senior captain Tommy Ellison (at right), who posted a team-best 74.85 round average last season. Ellison, who led Delaware by finishing 15th at the CAA Championships in the spring, enters the year ranked second in UD history with a 75.38 round average.

Also returning for the Blue Hens will be sophomore Colin Smith, who averaged 76.63 shots per round during his freshman campaign, when he tied the school record by shooting a 66 at the Old Dominion Invitational. Fellow sophomore Kevin McLister, the only UD golfer to appear in all 12 tournaments a year ago, also returns after averaging 76.98 strokes per round in 2007-08.

Following this weekend’s tournament, Delaware will take next weekend off before competing in the Cornell Invitational on September 27-28. The Blue Hens will then host the Scotty Duncan Invitational at White Clay Creek Golf Course in Stanton, Del. on October 4-5. Following an appearance in the Frank Landry Invitational hosted by Liberty University on October 13-14, the Blue Hens conclude their fall season on October 25-26 by competing in the Lehigh Invitational.