Men's Golf Team Places Fifth, Reynolds Makes History With T3 Individual Finish at GNAC Championship

HAMDEN, Conn. – Saints junior Ian Reynolds (East Haven, Conn.) made program history on Tuesday afternoon, finishing the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship with a two-day total of 18-over-par (158), finishing T3 and becoming the first Emmanuel men's golfer to be named to an All-Conference First or Second Team as a result of finishing inside the top 10.

The All-Conference teams are determined by a player's result in the GNAC Championship with the top-five finishers and ties claiming an All-GNAC First Team selection. A matching pair of 79s over two days gave Reynolds the 18-over total, finishing three shots clear of the cutoff for First Team honors.

The difficult par-70 New Haven Country Club played host to the GNAC Championship event. Nearby Albertus Magnus was the event host for the 18^th playing of the conference championship.

Reynolds opened the day three shots back of the lead, held by Dean sophomore Michael Keefe (Milford, Mass.) and closed that deficit to just one after a birdie on the par-3 second.

A string of nine straight pars by Reynolds matched with a one-over stretch by Keefe, left the Saints captain trailing by one with five holes to play.

The closing stretch for the duo favored Keefe, as bogeys on 15 and 17 helped fend off Reynolds, who made a series of double bogeys late in the round. Keefe finished the day with a five-over 75, matching the low round of the tournament while claiming the 2023 GNAC Individual Championship with his two-day total of 11-over, 151.

New England College junior Timothy Carlson (Albany, N.Y.) matched Keefe's 75 on the day, helping him move up five spots to claim second place with his two-day score of 156 (+16). Albertus Magnus junior Charles Kristofak (West Hartford, Conn.) matched Reynolds's two-day total of 158 to clinch a spot on the All-GNAC First Team.

The final spots on the First Team belonged to Saint Joseph's (ME) first-year Braden Camire (Saco, Maine), Norwich first-year Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, Ontario), and New England College sophomore Graham Hassan (Pinckney, Mich.), all who finished T5 with a two-day score of 161 (+21).

Saints first-year Ryan Brunet (Peabody, Mass.) performed well in his first GNAC Championship outing, securing a top-20 finish following a two-day score of +28. Junior Gianni Ridolfi (Kittery, Maine) finished the event at +34 while seniors Connor Maguire (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Jackson Keplinger (Cheshire, Mass.) scored totals of +44 and +54, respectively.

The Saints finished fifth in the event as a team, shooting 684 over two rounds. Emmanuel played 18 shots better on day two, bettering their first-round score from 351 to a second day 333. Only Norwich and Elms managed a better second round improvement than the Saints.

The New England College Pilgrims took home the team title at the event and have earned the GNACs automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament next spring. NEC held off a late run by Norwich, as the Pilgrims shot 646 over two days, winning by seven strokes to the Cadets score of 653. Host team Albertus Magnus took third, one shot back of Norwich at 654.

GOLFER OF THE YEAR - Michael Keefe, Dean
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Cooper Bertrand, Norwich
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Braden Camire, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
COACH OF THE YEAR - Travis Banga, New England College
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP - Albertus Magnus

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM (Top-5 including ties)

Cooper Bertrand, Norwich
Braden Camire, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Timothy Carlson, New England College
Graham Hassan, New England College
Michael Keefe, Dean
Charles Kristofak, Albertus Magnus
Ian Reynolds, Emmanuel

ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM (Places 6-10 including ties)

Matt Brangiforte, Dean
Harrison Giambattista, Norwich
Shamus McLean, Mitchell
Shamar Wilson, Albertus Magnus 

ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM

Sam Witt, Albertus Magnus
Michael Keefe, Dean
Miguel Pearce, Elms
Ian Reynolds, Emmanuel
Shamus McLean, Mitchell
Kam Hellman, New England College
Tyler Orton, Norwich
Nick DeLeo, Saint Joseph's (Maine)