HENNIKER, N.H. - The New England College men's golf team begins day 1 of the GNAC Championships on Tuesday, October 14th at the New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut, after a rain-filled forecast pushed the meet back from its' original start time on Monday.
The back-to-back defending GNAC Champions enter this year's event as slight favorites once again. The Pilgrims were voted first in the GNAC Pre-Championship poll but only edged out Albertus Magnus by a single voting point (57 to 56) while both teams received three first-place votes. Norwich came in a close third with 53 points and the final two first-place votes.
The three teams faced off against each other last Wednesday in a tri-match at the New Haven Country Club, with the match acting as a preview of the course that would be hosting the championship event. While the course acts as Albertus Magnus' home links, now all three teams have played the 18-hole, par-70 course. NEC placed first in the tri-match with a team score of 325. Norwich came in second with 334 and Albertus in third with a score of 345.
While this was the first time NEC and Albertus have gone head-to-head this season, the Pilgrims and Cadets have been frequent competitors this year. At the Norwich-hosted Tony Mariano Invitational in early September, the Cadets took home first place while NEC tied for second. Norwich also bested the Pilgrims at the Castleton Invitational a week later.
But the Pilgrims rallied back with a first-place finish at the Keene State Invitational on September 5th while Norwich sat tied for third. The two teams then faced off head-to-head in match play on September 28th where NEC earned a decisive 6.0-1.0 win. Their win in the Albertus Magnus-hosted tri-match was their third win over Norwich this season as the Pilgrims have been playing their best golf when it has mattered the most over the last three weeks of the season.
Senior Graham Hassan (Pinckney, Mich.) has led the team all season, scoring in the 80s just one time. His remarkable consistency has landed him on the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll four times and he was named the GNAC Golfer of the Week on September 29th.
Newcomer Emil Elias (Ekerö, Sweden) has emerged in the second half of the team's season, putting together a very solid stretch since mid-September for the Pilgrims. The freshman has finished top 10 in their last four meets while shooting sub-80 three times. He was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week on September 29th and earned GNAC Weekly Honor Roll once.
Sophomores Vesse-Wincent Lampen (Espoo, Finland) and Bryce Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) both bring playoff experience as they each earned a spot on the GNAC All-Conference Second Team last season after finishing eighth and tenth overall, respectively. Fellow sophomore Dalton Gordon (Boscawen, N.H.) has rounded out the team's fivesome with some strong performances this season and will be making his GNAC Championships debut.
The GNAC Championships will start at 10:30 AM with live scoring available here.
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