GNAC Golf Championship Underway in Maine

BIDDEFORD, Maine – Through 18 holes at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club, University of Southern Maine leads the eight-team Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Golf Championship field with a 297 card, 11 strokes ahead of current runner-up Saint Joseph's College (308).

The Huskies' impressive score is tied for the second-lowest first-round GNAC Championship effort and best since Johnson & Wales University notched the same collective card in 2017.

The second and final day of the GNAC Championship kicks off tomorrow at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club at 9:30 AM. The winner of the eight-team tournament earns an automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA DIII National Championship, which will be played at The Champion and The Fazio in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on May 12th through May 15th.

Southern Maine senior Tristan Dundas (Abbotsford, B.C.) holds the low score with a one-over-par 72 after birdying four holes and posting par on nine others. Four players carded a 74 on the first day of the tourney, as Saint Joseph's freshman Trevor Flanagan (Monmouth, Maine), Johnson & Wales junior Hunter DiLorenzo (Boxborough, Mass.), and USM seniors Parker Sanderson (Hermon, Maine) and Kyle Morin (Lewiston, Maine) are currently tied for second on the player leaderboard.

Johnson & Wales, the two-time defending GNAC Champion, sits in third place with a 310 team card, while UMass.-Dartmouth is fourth (319) and Suffolk University rounds out the top five with a 333 collective score. Albertus Magnus College (335), Rhode Island College (339), and Emmanuel College (396) completed the first round in the final three slots.

Including the Huskies' aforementioned trio as well as senior Ryan Dee (Houlton, Maine) – who carded a 77 – Southern Maine has four players in the top eight. With senior Greg Kalagias (Saco, Maine) notching a 79, all five of the USM linkers came in under 80 in the first round, which accounts for 1/3 of the 15 individuals who posted a sub-80 card on the opening day.

TEAM NOTES

SOUTHERN MAINE:

Dundas and Sanderson lead the tournament field with four birdies apiece…Morin, the Huskies' #5 golfer, has a pair of birdies and 11 par efforts over the first 18 holes…USM is seeking the program's first-ever GNAC title…The Huskies finished as the GNAC runner-up in 2011 and 2012 and placed third last fall.

SAINT JOSEPH'S:

Tied for eighth going into day two, seniors Brendan Donovan (Auburn, Maine) and Tyler Johnson (Windham, Maine) both shot a 77 in the opening round…Johnson highlighted the day for the Monks by eagling the par-four fourth hole with a 160-yard shot into the cup…Flanagan is tied for the tournament lead with 13 pars.

JOHNSON & WALES:

Including DiLorenzo (74), three Wildcats shot in the 70's on Saturday, as freshman Nico Ciolino (Marlborough, Mass.) (77), and senior Mac Patch (St. Simons Island, Ga.) (77) are currently tied for eighth overall…Patch overcame a pair of triple-bogeys by posting birdies on the fifth, 17th, and 18th holes.

UMASS.-DARTMOUTH:

Sophomore Jack McDonald (New Bedford, Mass.), who is tied for the tourney lead with 13 pars, paced the Corsairs with a 76 card and is tied for sixth overall…Freshman Charlie Karagosian (Davis, Calif.) produced a 78 score and sits in 13th through 18 holes

SUFFOLK:

Senior Elias Sachs (Arlington, Mass.) is tied for 16th with an even 80 score and was just two over (37) after nine holes…Sachs had 12 par scores on the first day…Senior Demetrois Stamoulis (Manchester, N.H.) was nine over par with a 44 on the front nine but shaved four strokes with four par efforts on the back nine and sits in 27th (85).

ALBERTUS MAGNUS:

Junior Ryan Sember (Branford, Conn.) is tied for sixth with a 76 card after hitting par on nine holes and birdying the third and 18th holes…Sophomore Liam Deane (Branford, Conn.) triple-bogeyed the second hole but recovered with par performances on eight holes and is tied for 20th (83).

RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE:

Senior Tyler Boisclair (West Warwick, R.I.) birdied two holes and posted par on seven others en route to posting a 79 card…Bosclair is tied for 14th heading into the final day…Senior Evan Moore (Portsmouth, R.I.) shot and 83 and is tied for 20th despite triple-bogeying the 17th hole.

EMMANUEL COLLEGE:

Sophomore Michael Mencio (Watertown, Conn.) is the Saints' leader with a 92 card and is 35th through 18 holes.

*Release courtesy of Saint Joseph's College Athletic Communications