CHAMPIONS!... AGAIN! Men’s Golf Wins its Second Straight CACC Championship

10/3/2023 12:00:00 AM

Tweet #GBCLightning

(results)

Goldey-Beacom won a memorable duel with Post to capture its second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference title and junior Hunter McGee (Almonte, ON) ended second at Watertown Country Club in Watertown, CT.

Trailing the Eagles by one shot entering the final round, the Lightning made that up by shooting 289 versus the former's 291 with the help of two sub-par rounds and McGee's 71. GBC shooting 284, tied for the second-best round in school history, in the second round paved the way for the team to card a program-best 859 over 54 holes to upend Post by one shot.

With the program's fifth CACC crown comes another berth into the NCAA Regional, the squad's third consecutive and 10th overall. That will take place May 9-11, 2024 in Wheeling, WV.

The story for Goldey-Beacom once again was McGee, the 2020-21 CACC Player of the Year, the 2021-22 CACC individual champion and a four-time member of the All-CACC Team. Tuesday's final round saw him drain four birdies as part of his aforementioned 71, ending the week at 210.

McGee closed the week with 10 birdies and two eagles, including four and one Monday in firing an opening-round 68.

The individual title was a battle between McGee and Post's Bill Koch with 54 holes not enough. After each birdied the first hole and pared the second in sudden death, Koch made birdie on the par-four third hole to capture medalist honors.

Junior Camilo Samur (Bucaramanga, Colombia), an All-CACC Team member last season, shot 70 in yet another outstanding round. He carded four birdies on the day and built off his first-round 68 to close tied for third at 213.

Junior Adrian Bonilla (Almeria, Spain) also had a day Tuesday with a final-round 70, notching six birdies that included four on the front nine when he went out in 32. He played the last seven holes at even par and that was a massive key in him closing eighth at 218.

Junior Pablo Saenz Avila (Bogota, Colombia), Monday's hero with a school-record six-under-par 65 in the second round, shot 78 on Tuesday that included a huge birdie on the par-five 16th hole that proved to be one of the differences. He ended the championship ninth with 220.

Sophomore William Kelly (Auckland, New Zealand) was solid in his first CACC Championship as his second-round score of 73 counted toward one of the four for the Lightning. Tuesday saw him shoot 78 and end the championship tied for 18th with 229.

The program becomes the first for Goldey-Beacom to win consecutive CACC titles since the Women's Tennis team accomplished this in 2016 and 2017. It is the first men's program at the school to do this since Men's Golf won three consecutive crowns from 2003-05.

In addition to the student-athletes, credit also goes to Director of Athletics Jeremy Benoit for building this program and first-year coach TJ Dekmar for guiding them. This marks the Department of Athletics 13th CACC title.

Print Friendly Version