Three-Peat! Men’s Golf Rallies to Capture Third Straight GNAC Title

The New England College men’s golf team are Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Champions for the third straight year as the Pilgrims rallied back to claim first place and an 10-stroke victory at the New Haven Country Club in Connecticut on Wednesday.

As day two of the GNAC Championships resumed Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m., the Pilgrims entered the day in an unfamiliar position: The two-time reigning champions found themselves tied for third place and six strokes behind first-place Albertus Magnus.

Throughout the second day of competition, the Pilgrims slowly dug into the Falcons’ lead and around 2:00 p.m., and with just about five or six holes remaining, NEC finally caught up and tied Albertus. Across the last hour of competition, the Pilgrims not only took the lead but expanded it to double digits. Ultimately, the ‘Grims used a stellar day two to win with a 10-stroke lead.

Senior Graham Hassan (Pinckney, Mich.) returned to his rightful position atop the Pilgrims’ scorecard, posting the tournament’s best single-day score with a 70 (E). The senior recorded four birdies en route to a potential career-best performance when it mattered most. Hassan finished with a two-day total of +9 which was good for second place overall. Graham is the lone participant for the ‘Grims to have been a part of all three championship teams during this remarkable run.

Not far behind Hassan finished freshman Emil Elias (Ekerö, Sweden) who pieced together two very consistent performances to finish fourth overall. He took a stroke off back nine to finish with a 77 (+7) on the day and a +15 overall. His +7 today was tied for the fifth best single-day performance of the tournament.

Sophomore Vesse-Wincent Lampen (Espoo, Finland) finished just outside the top 10 overall, submitting an 81 (+11) to go along with Tuesday’s 82 (+12) to place 11th overall. He was playing well down the stretch with a 39 (+3) on the back nine including three pars to end his day. For the second straight season, Lampen was the team’s third best scorer while contributing to a team title.

Also using a strong finish was sophomore Bryce Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) who went even across the final five holes of the day, including a birdie on 18. Sturm was instrumental in helping to create a gap between NEC and Albertus while his teammates expanded upon that lead to secure the win. He posted an accumulative +25 to finish tied for 14th place in the individual standings.

Rounding out the squad, sophomore Dalton Gordon (Boscawen, N.H.) posted an 88 (+18) on top of his 83 (+13) yesterday to finish tied for 22nd overall with a +31.

NEC punched their ticket with a two-day total of +71, ten strokes ahead of Albertus Magnus who held on to second place. Emmanuel finished in third place at +85 while Norwich took fourth with a +89.

The Pilgrims will head to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships for the third consecutive year, with this year’s tournament being held in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. It will be held at Mission Resort and Club and run from May 12–15. But May is a long way away, so for now the Pilgrims get to celebrate as GNAC Champions once again.

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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