Saint Joseph's of Maine Captures Second Straight GNAC Title, Spring NCAA Berth
The host Monks cruised to the 2022 GNAC Men's Golf Championship with a two-day total of 626 (324-302), closing out their second consecutive conference win Tuesday afternoon at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Dan Campagna, Emmanuel Athletics
SACO, Maine - Host Saint Joseph's College of Maine cruised to the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Golf Championship with a two-day total of 626 (324-302), closing out its second consecutive conference win Tuesday afternoon at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club.
Albertus College earned Runner-Up honors with a strong Day 2 outing (321) to take second with a 665 (344-321) and pass Elms College, which finished the tournament in third at 667 (335-332). Norwich University earned fourth-place honors at 372 (344-328) while Dean College and Emmanuel (Mass.) College rounded out the competitors in fifth and sixth place with scores of 712 (357-355) and 713 (358-355), respectively.
COURSE NOTES
Front Nine: Par 35 - 3,192 yards
Back Nine: Par 36 - 3,166 yards
Total: Par 71 - 6,358 yards
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
Defending GNAC medalist and 2021 Rookie of the Year Drew Mathieu (Windham, Maine) repeated as the tournament medalist, firing a round two 69 (-2) to best his teammate, senior Trevor Flanagan (Monmouth, Maine) by one stroke in the tournament total at 149 (80-69). Mathieu ties the GNAC Championship Day 2 low-round record, matching Patrick Ford (Rhode Island College) who carded a 69 in 2014 at Ponkapoag Golf Course. The sophomore was two under on the front nine with four birdies and even on the back side with two more birds to help the Monks coast to the repeat.
Mathieu is the first player in GNAC Golf history to repeat as the medalist in back-to-back seasons and just the second player to win a pair of GNAC top finishes. Tom Sheran is the only other player to accomplish the feat after having won the 2015 and 2018 medalist honors while playing for Rhode Island College and UMass Dartmouth, respectively.
After sharing the Day 1 lead, Elms sophomore Mike Keefe (Milford, Mass.) finished in third overall with a 155 (75-80)
Norwich first-year Matt Printup (Northfield, Vt.) earned GNAC Rookie of the Year honors finishing fourth in the field and the low rookie with a two-day score of 158 (81-77).
Elms first year Miguel Pierce (Guilford, Conn.) rounded out the Top-5 carding a 159 (79-80).
The lowest five scores will automatically be named to the GNAC All-Conference Team following round-two play on Tuesday, while the individual medalist will be named the Player of the Year and the rookie with the lowest total will be named Rookie of the Year.
1) Drew Mathieu, SJC – 80, 69 - 149 * Medalist
2) Trevor Flanagan, SJC – 75, 75 - 150
3) Mike Keefe, Elms – 75, 80 - 155
4) Matt Printup, NU – 81, 77 - 158 * Rookie of the Year
5) Miguel Pierce, Elms – 79, 80 - 159
UP NEXT
With the win, the Monks earn the league's automatic qualifier to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament, which will be played at the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky starting on May 16th.
