HAMDEN, Conn. - Norwich University Men's Golf, in only their second season since being reinstated to varsity status, placed second in the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Golf Championship. 

"I am very proud of what this team accomplished this season," explained Coach Cam Clarke after the GNAC Conference Golf Championship concluded. "We got better as the season went on with three 1st place finishes and three 2nd place finishes. The boys battled hard for a runner up finish at the GNAC Championship and had a great second day finishing atop the leaderboard with a 314. As a young program, it's great to see the improvement in the young men on and off the course. We hope to build off the momentum we created this season and use it to have a great 2024." 


In a hotly contested championship, the Cadets (653) were only seven strokes behind GNAC Champions New England College (646).  Going into the tournament, New England College (NEC) and Norwich were tied in the pre-championship poll at second place.  Albertus Magnus College (654) entered the inaugural golf championship in the top spot in the poll, but finished in third place after being nudged out by Norwich by a single stroke.  St. Joseph's - ME (684), Dean College (706), Elms College (726) and Mitchell College (755) rounded out the field from 4th to 8th place. 

At the close of the first day of the two day event, the Cadets (339) found themselves trailing NEC, who shot a day one best 325, and Albertus Magnus (331).  The second day saw the Cadets heat up and shoot 314 which was 7 strokes better than any other team on either day. The dominant round allowed Norwich to leapfrog Albertus Magnus and close the gap against NEC.  

The Cadets had several impressive individual scores as well.  Cooper Bertrand, entered the championship with two Rookie of the Week honors and one Golfer of the Week award to his credit, tied for 5th with a combined two day score of 161 (+21).  Harrison Giambattista, who finished the season with a pair of Rookie of the Week honors as well, was not far behind Bertrand after shooting 163 (+21) and tied for 10th place out of the 40 golfers at the championship.  Tyler Orton finished tied at 14th finishing with a two day total of 165 (+25). Thomas Riddick was only two strokes behind Orton, and tied at 17th with a score of 167 (+27).  Last year's GNAC Rookie of the Year, Matt Printup, had a combined two day total of 168 (+28).

During the event, several individuals also earned post season honors.  Bertrand, who was tied at 5th in the championship, earned All-Conference First Team honors as well as being named Co-Rookie of the Year as the lowest first-year scorer.  This is the second time in as many years that Norwich has claimed the Rookie of the Year.  Giambattista also earned All-Conference honors after being named to the Second Team.  Orton was honored as part of the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.