SACO, Maine - The Saint Joseph's College (ME) men's golf team cruised to the 2022-23 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (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.

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.

Albertus College earned runner-up honors with a strong Day 2 outing (321) to take second with a 665 (344-321) to pass Elms College who 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 

This marks the second time in GNAC history the conference has played the Championship at Biddeford-Saco CC with the first tournament taking place in 2019 when Southern Maine took the event with a two-day score of 596 (297-299). Tristan Dundas (USM) took home medalist honors that year shooting a 145 (72-73).

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).

MONKS SCORECARD:

• Drew Mathieu placed first overall with a career-low 149 (80-69) score; his 69 card on day two is also a personal best
• Trevor Flanagan shot a 75 both days and placed second with a 150 card
• Sean McDonough cut six strokes off his first-day score with a 77 card and finished sixth overall (150)
• Sophomore Alex Beecher (South Portland, Maine) shaved seven strokes on day two and tied for 12th (169, 88-81)
• Sophomore Devin Coonradt (Methuen, Mass.) was 18th with a 173 (86-87) score

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• McDonough and Mathieu tied for the tourney lead with 21 par scores while Flanagan posted 20 par efforts
• Mathieu paced the 30-player field with six birdies while Flanagan tied for second with four birdies

SCORECARDS:

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

THANKS IN LARGE PART TO GNAC GOLF CHAIR DAN CAMPAGNA