Siena Men's Golf made a triumphant return to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Tournament by setting two program records in round one of the Stanford Regional played on the Par-70 - 6,727-yard Stanford Golf Course on Monday.
The Saints, who carded a +7 over-par-287, beat their previous best round of 296 that was set in last year's 2023 Auburn Regional.
Additionally, MAAC Rookie of the Year
Michael McConie etched his name into the record books, by finishing with a program record for individual low single-round of 70 in a NCAA Tournament, topping the previous best round score by a stroke from two others.
The previous best round was shared by Don DeNyse III in the 2011 Rancho Santa Fe, Ca Regional as well as Michael Christifulli in the 2018 Stockton, Ca Regionals.
Overall, Siena is positioned in 13th place, but are only two strokes within a pack of four teams including SMU, Liberty, Fresno State and Missouri.
The Saints are ahead of Big Sky Champions Sacramento State by nine strokes.
The Saints, who are the defending two-time MAAC champions, entered making its sixth overall NCAA regional appearance and were looking to build upon last season's 12
th place finish in the Auburn Regional.
It was a promising beginning for McConie, who got things started on the right foot for Siena by firing three birdies on the front nine (a par-5, 521-yard first hole, a par-4, 429-yard sixth hole and a par-3, 172-yard eighth hole) to pace the Saints.
McConie added a birdie on 17 to finish even-par-70 and was tied for 30
th among all competitors.
Fifth-year
Matthew Ferrari played better as the day wore on.
After Ferrari shot +3-over-par 38 on the front nine, he bounced back to sink birdies on 11th, 13th, 16th and 17th to go 1-under after the turn and finished 2-over-par-72 in round one.
Of note, sophomore
Austin Giroux also sunk a birdie on a 447-yard, par-4 on five and played the most consistently on the team, shooting par on 14 holes to close out at +3-over-par-73.
Fifth-year
Nolan Crowley birdied the par-5, 539-yard seventh hole and then added two more birdies on the back nine to card a +2-over-par-72.
Illinois were the leaders heading into the clubhouse, shooting a -17-under-par-263 while Florida State finished -13, home-standing Stanford was at -11 while Ole Miss and Texas A&M both came in tied for fourth at -9 on the day.
Siena will continue competition on Tuesday with day two action beginning for Siena golfers with a scheduled tee time of 1:20 p.m. (EST)/10:20 AM (Pacific).
