QUINCY, Mass. – Senior Ryan Sember (Branford, Conn.) carded a two-under 69 to lead the Albertus Magnus College men's golf team to the 2021 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Golf Championship at the Granite Links Golf Club on Monday afternoon. The Falcons posted a team scored of 320 to top runner-up Saint Joseph's College (ME) who finished in second with a 343.
With the low score, Albertus Magnus claims their first-ever conference golf championship and have earned the GNAC's automatic qualifier into the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships on May 11-14, 2021 at Oglebay Golf Course in Wheeling, West Virginia, and championship rounds will be played at the Speidel Golf Club on the Arnold Palmer Course and the Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Course.
Sember's medalist round of 69 ties the second lowest round in GNAC men's golf championship history. He opened the day with eight straight pars before a bogey on No. 8 moved him to +1 on the day. The senior notched pars on holes 9 through 12 before posting back-to-back birdies on holes 13 & 14 to move to -1 on the day. After pars on 15 and 16, the Branford native dropped a stoke on the par 3 17th hole but finished the round strong, holing out a 25-yard approach on the 18th to eagle the final hole to secure the two-under 69.
The GNAC's top five finishers automatically garner All-Conference accolades so joining Sember on the All-Conference squad were his teammates in sophomore Rob Eichelberger (Odessa, Fla.) who carded an 83, sophomore David Aquavia (Oakville, Conn.) and junior Devin Hines (West Haven, Conn.) who both shot an 84. Rounding out the All-Conference team was Saint Joseph's College sophomore Sean McDonough (Concord, N.H.) who matched Eichelberger for the second lowest round of the day with an 83.
McDonough paced the Monks to the runner-up finish with four birdies and five pars, marking the most birdies on the day by any player in the field. Sophomore Trevor Flanagan (Monmouth, Maine) was two strokes off his teammates pace with an 85, finishing sixth overall. Senior Brian Maguire (Braintree, Mass.) shot an 87, sophomore Cody Rizzo (West Gardiner, Maine) posted an 88, and senior Brendan Hanrahan (Spencer, Mass.) notched an 89.
As the low scoring first-year player, Eichelberger garners GNAC Rookie of the Year honors with his round of 83 which featured eight pars with four coming on each side of the course.
Dean College finished in third place in their first-ever GNAC Championship appearance with a score of 364. First year Sean Doherty (Chelmsford, Mass.) and junior Ethan Lessard (Somers, Conn.) shared the team-low, each carding an 88 on the afternoon for the Bulldogs.
Emmanuel College rounded of the tournament field with a season-best 392 showing. Junior Michael Mencio (Watertown, Conn.) netted an 86 to finish seventh in the field for the low EC round.
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