Saints Men's Golf Heads for Two-Day GNAC Championship at New Haven CC
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The two-day Great Northeast Athletic Conference Golf Championship starts Monday as the Emmanuel Saints men’s golf program sets out to take on New Haven Country Club in this year’s GNAC Championship. The Saints were recently voted sixth in the pre-tournament coaches poll, with host school Albertus Magnus taking the top spot in the voting.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The two-day Great Northeast Athletic Conference Golf Championship starts Monday as the Emmanuel Saints men's golf program sets out to take on New Haven Country Club in this year's GNAC Championship. The Saints were recently voted sixth in the pre-tournament coaches poll, with host school Albertus Magnus taking the top spot in the voting.
New Haven Country Club hosts the GNAC Championship for the second time in three seasons, as the challenging par-70 golf course is no stranger to Championship events. The venue has hosted six Connecticut State Opens, 14 Connecticut State Amateurs Championships, as well as numerous New England Amateurs and Connecticut State Golf Association Qualifiers.
A three-hole stretch in the middle of the front nine sets the stage for a difficult opening series of holes.
The par-4 fifth plays just 400 yards, but with out-of-bounds down the entire right side, and trees guarding the left, an accurate tee shot is required to score well. The par-4 sixth plays very similar to the fifth hole, but a well-placed bunker in the landing zone of the fairway could spell trouble for any shots down the left. The seventh, another par-4 and hardest on the front, plays 421 yards and is protected by a multi-tiered green.
Heading to the back nine, the 11th plays the hardest of any at New Haven Country Club. At 424 yards, an accurate tee shot that only travels 245 yards is required to set up a long second shot, playing blind to a green well uphill.
The 13th hole plays just 377 on the card, but uphill from tee-to-green makes the hole a challenge for all. Any shot short of the pin on the 13th runs the risk of rolling 50 yards off the green.
The 14th plays 454 yards and is the longest of the par 4s at New Haven while the finishing hole plays as a par-5 at 575 yards, both challenging holes that require accuracy for success.
Playing in the top spot for Emmanuel is junior captain Ian Reynolds (East Haven, Conn.). A native of close-by East Haven, Reynolds is no stranger to New Haven CC, having competed on it as a first-year in 2021.
Reynolds leads the Saints this season in scoring average and has the team's lowest score this fall. In the five rounds leading up to the GNACs, the junior is averaging 78.80 this season and is coming off his first career medalist on Oct. 5 at the Mitchell Invite III.
Playing out of the second spot is senior Connor Maguire (Old Lyme, Conn.). Maguire has missed the last two events leading into the GNAC Championship but holds the second-lowest scoring average on the team this fall.
First-year Ryan Brunet (Peabody, Mass.) is playing in the third spot for the championship. The rookie is third on the team in scoring average and has improved on his scores all season long, including a collegiate career-low 83 at the EC Invite in late-September.
Senior Jackson Keplinger (Cheshire, Mass.) and junior Gianni Ridolfi (Kittery, Maine) round out the five golfers in the Saints lineup. Keplinger is coming off a season-best 84 at the Mitchell Invite III while Ridolfi is one of two players to be in all five matches this season.
Coming into the tournament, Albertus Magnus sophomore Shamar Wilson is on the short list of players to win medalist honors. Wilson and the Falcons have played in five events this season, with AMC finishing first as a team in all five tournaments and Wilson claiming individual victory in four of those five events.
Wilson has rounds of 78 and 81 at New Haven this fall. His 81 (+11) is the only event he missed out on medalist honors. The second-year man also has the lowest score of all GNAC players this season at 3-under, 69.
Norwich's Harrison Giambattista and Cooper Bertrand lead the Cadets contenders individually. Norwich enters Monday's action with seven top-three team finishes in nine events in the fall. Giambattista comes in with rounds of 75 and 78 in his last two appearances while Bertrand had consecutive 83s over his last two.
New England College sophomore Graham Hassan has the second-lowest score among GNAC players this season, shooting a 2-under-par, 70, at the New England College Invitational in early September.
Saint Joseph's College of Maine junior Drew Mathieu is seeking his third-consecutive GNAC Championship medalist title. As a first-year, Mathieu won at New Haven with a two-day total of 159 (+19). He followed that performance by defending his title last season at Biddeford-Saco CC, shooting a 149 (+7) over two days.
Results from the GNAC Championship can be found using the GolfStat Software. Use the link below to follow your Saints in action on Monday, Oct. 9, and Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship at New Haven Country Club