STOW, Mass.—First-year Riley Whitham (Harvard, Mass.) shot a 1-under par 71 and Babson College finished with a final round score of 304 to claim its second consecutive New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's golf championship on Sunday afternoon at the Stow Acres Country Club North Course.
Whitham, who followed up a 1-over par round of 73 on Saturday, was selected as the NECC Golfer of the Year and Rookie of the Year for the Beavers, who earned the league's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Championship in Rochester, N.Y. The conference title was the fourth for the Green and White, which also came in first in 2009, 2011 and 2014.
Head coach Jeff Page, now in his third season at the helm of the Babson golf program, was selected as the NECC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
Babson, which led by 13 shots after Saturday's opening round, posted a 36-hole total of 617 to finish 52 strokes ahead of second-place Elms College (669). Becker College recorded a team score of 699 to finish a distant third, while Daniel Webster College (709) and Springfield College (712) came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Whitham made two birdies and just one bogey on Sunday and posted a 36-hole total of even par 144 to win by 10 shots over fellow first-year Benjamin Crawford (Houston, Texas), who carded his second consecutive 77. Crawford recorded a total score of 10-over par 154 as both players were named to the all-conference first team.
Sophomore Ian Notkin (Caldwell, N.J.), who was the medalist at last year's championship, shot a final round 75 and earned his second consecutive All-NECC first-team nod by tying for fourth place with a two-round total of 158. Classmate Kyle Alexander (Brewer, Maine) carded an 81 and made the all-conference second team with a 36-hole total of 161.
Senior Chris Maguire (Waltham, Mass.), a three-time All-NECC honoree, bounced back from a tough opening round on Saturday with a final round 83 to tie for 13th position. He was also one of seven players named to the 2015 NECC Sportsmanship team.
Babson returns to action on Thursday at the Westfield State Invitational starting at 11 a.m.
TOURNAMENT NOTES
• Whitham is the sixth Babson golfer to take home NECC Golfer of the Year honors since 2009.
• Whitham, who was 3-over par through his first four holes on Saturday, played the final 32 holes in 3-under par.
• The Beavers placed four players on the all-conference team for the second consecutive year.
• The Green and White will make its 10th NCAA Championship appearance this spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment