Negus and Teal Help Endicott Secure a Berth Into CCC Championship

2015 CCC CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER RESULTS

HALIFAX, Mass.- With a chance to qualify for the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) spring Championship on the line, the Endicott golf team shot a combined 312 to finish in a tie for second, and earn a spot in the spring title tournament.

The top four teams in the seven team fall qualifier earn bids to the spring championships, meaning that Endicott, Western New England, Roger Williams and Nichols will vie for the title come April. Western New England shot the lowest combined round at the qualifier with a team total of 306, followed by Endicott and Roger Williams with 312 and then Nichols with a 318.

Dan Negus (Pembroke, Mass.) and Austin Teal (Loudonville, N.Y.) led the Gulls with identical rounds of five-over 77 as the duo tied for fourth place.

Not making the cut were the University of New England (332), Wentworth (337) and Eastern Nazarene (464).

Medalist honors for the Qualifier went to Roger Williams' Joshua Unkrich (Bristol, Conn.) and Western New England's Nick Shemkovitz (Meriden, Conn.).

TOP QUOTE

"We are really happy with the results today," said championship-bound head coach Tom Smith. "Although it would have been nice to have been able to host the finals in the spring, we are excited to get to work and be the team that gets the job done at the end of April and punch our ticket back to the National Championship in Rochester, N.Y. in May, 2016. Our hats are off to Western New England today and we certainly know we will have to play our best golf come the CCC Championship next April. For now we will focus on the ECAC's and NEIGA tournaments and look to gain momentum that will help catapult us into the spring season!"

INSIDE THE CARD

• With the spring CCC Championship berth locked up, the Gulls will be searching for their fourth CCC title in five seasons. The Gulls were upset in 2014-15 by Western New England as the Golden Bears knocked off the three time reigning CCC Champions by one stroke.
• The top two golfers for Endicott, Negus and Teal, were the same in the 2015 spring championship as Teal took home medalist honors while Negus finished tied for sixth overall.
• Alex Viola (Brunswick, Maine) and Ben Palazzo (Farmington, Conn.) fired identical rounds of 79 to finish tied for 13^th. The Gulls were one of just two squads to have four golfers score in the 70's, allowing them to drop the high score of 81.

WHAT'S NEXT

With the CCC Championship berth locked up, the Gulls will travel to Kennebunkport, Maine on Friday to compete in the UNE Invitational.  Once that is complete, Endicott will then focus on their two "majors" that remain in the fall with the ECAC DIII New England Championships to be held this weekend on October 10-11^th at The Ranch in Southwick, Mass., and then the three-day NEIGA Championships to be held October 24-26^th at the Captains Course in Brewster, Mass. 

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