LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL – What began for Siena Men's Golf last season as a breakthrough has continued into a push toward a dynasty. The Saints completed the program's second straight and sixth overall Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on Sunday to punch its ticket back to the NCAA Men's Golf Regionals and continue its recent legacy as one of the top mid-major men's golf programs in the Northeast.
The Green and Gold carded a team round of +2, 290 in round three at Disney's Palm Golf Course in Lake Buena Vista, Florida to complete a 54-hole total of -4, 860 (285-285-290) to claim a three-stroke victory over Fairfield. The program's sixth title (1991, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2023, 2024) also marks its second time repeating as conference champions, Siena's first team MAAC Championship as a school during the 2023-24 season, and the school's first repeat MAAC Champion since Women's Golf did so in 2011 & 2012.
Siena maintained its place atop the team leaderboard in the nine-team field for the duration of the weekend, and did not falter on the front nine of the final round despite shooting five strokes worse than the first two rounds on the paR-72, 6,820-yard course.
A pair of Saints finished inside the individual top-ten to claim All-MAAC honors, with freshman
Michael McConie (70-68-75) holding the individual lead for much of the day, and fifth year
Nolan Crowley (69-71-73) turning in an All-MAAC finish for the second straight year. Both finished with a weekend total of -3, 213 to tie with Mount St. Mary's' Ben Smith for second, while Rider's Ben Ortwein squeaked out the McLeod Trophy as the tournament individual champion at -4, 212. Additionally, head coach
Steven Jensen took home MAAC Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season and the third time overall in his eight-year tenure with the program and McConie was named MAAC Rookie of the Year by way of being the highest finishing first-year player.
"To win a championship like this we used all six guys, and that's how strong the team is," Jensen said following the conclusion of round three. "They make it easy for me to coach. I just step aside and let them swing away, and they played beautifully today."
Junior
Nick Lyons carded a round of +2, 74 to go with a pair of 73's in the first two rounds for a tie for 16
th individually at +4, 220. Sophomore
Austin Giroux shot +3, 75 for the second straight day after carded a 73 in the opening round to finish in a split for 22
nd at +7, 223. After missing the first round due to injury, fifth year
Matthew Ferrari turned in a five-stroke improvement from the second to the third round for an impressive card of -4, 68 to finish with 141 over the final 36 holes. Junior
Dan Brooks had played the opening round with an 85 back on Friday.
Siena will now advance to make the program's fifth appearance at an NCAA Men's Golf Regional, which will take place May 13-15. The team will gather on Wednesday, May 1 at 2 PM to find out their fate during the NCAA Men's Golf Selection Show on The Golf Channel, and will head to one of six 2024 regional sites: Austin, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Rancho Santa Fe, California, Stanford, California, or West Lafayette Indiana. The top five teams from each site and the top individual not on an advancing team will advance to the 2024 NCAA Men's Golf Championship May 24-29 in Carlsbad, California.
The Saints beat out Augusta University to finish 12
th at the NCAA Auburn Regional at the Auburn University Course in Auburn, Alabama during last season's regional appearance.
