SPRINGFIELD, Mass – After advancing to the NCAA East Super Regional Championship last year the American International College men’s golf team looks to improve on last year’s success and has sights set on a Northeast-10 Conference Championship and an NCAA Championship tournament bid. Head coach
Gary Ensor, now in his third season, returns three members of last year’s squad and welcomes four newcomers that will make an immediate impact on the program.
2008 - 09 RECAP: The Yellow Jackets continued to show improvement last season, finishing in the top five in seven of their 14 tournaments. AIC placed first out of seven teams at the Assumption Shootout and finished second at the Yellow Jacket Invitational out of 10 teams. The Yellow Jackets placed fifth out of twelve squads the Northeast-10 Championship the Yellow Jackets and ended the season with a 12th place showing at the NCAA East Super Regional Championship.
KEY LOSSES: AIC loses three key members of its 2008-09 squad. Andrew Mesheau competed in 13 of the teams 14 tournaments. He finished tied for 12th in the Assumption Shootout, placed 14th at the ECAC Division II Championship, and tied for 14th at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. Brandon Jones competed in 10 of the teams 14 tournaments. He tied for 16th, in his top finish of the year, at the Post Invitational. The Yellow Jackets also lose team captain Chad Richardson, who graduated in May.
RETURNERS: Juniors
Garret Beyor (Monson, Mass.) and
Kent Graham (Kamuela, Hawaii), and sophomore
Kevin Daniels (Anchorage, Alaska) return to this year’s team. Beyor completed in all 14 of the Yellow Jackets’ tournaments and was the team’s top finisher in 11 of those events. He claimed first place at the season opening Goldey - Beacom Fall Invitational with a first round 69 and second round 73 for a 142 two-day total, took first place, for the second time on the season, at the Assumption Shootout with a score of 72, finished in second place at the Northeast-10 Championship with a 70 on day one and a 75 on the day two, for a total of 145, tied for second place at the Charger Challenge hitting a 74 in both round for a tournament score of 148, In the season half of the season, Beyor, claimed first place at the Yellow Jacket Invitational with a combined score of 144 (74-70) and ended his season with a tie for 10th place at the NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Super Regional with a 229 over three rounds. Graham, also competed in all 14 events for AIC, claimed first place at Dowling’s Peter King Invitational with a combined score of 149 (75-74), tied for seventh at the Goldey – Beacom Invitational, finished tied for 12th at the Assumption Shootout a one round 80. In the spring, Graham, tied for seventh at the Yellow Jacket Invitational with a first round 83 and a second round 74 for a 157 total and placed tied for 34th at the NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Super Regional with a 238 after three rounds. Daniels competed in 12 of 14 tournaments, with his top finish coming at the Goldey - Beacom Invitational, placing tied for seventh with a two-day total of 152 (81-71). Beyor and Graham were also named this year’s team co-captains.
NEWCOMERS: The Yellow Jackets add four members to their team this year, junior
Greg Strattner (Westfield, Mass.), and freshmen
Colin Dansereau (Ludlow, Mass.),
Nate Pereira (Ludlow, Mass.), and
Anthony Roberts (Ludlow, Mass.). Strattner, a junior college standout, arrives at AIC after leading Holyoke Community College to a top-10 national ranking and being named an all-American. He was the first-ever HCC golfer to earn first-team all-America honors as a freshman while finishing the season ranked second by the NJCAA and was a first-team all-region selection in 2009. Strattner placed 42nd at the 2009 NJCAA National Championship after losing in a playoff for the 2008 national title, and his scoring average was the third-lowest in the nation. Dansereau, Pereira, and Roberts, each of whom stared at Ludlow High School, will compete for time as freshmen.
2009 SCHEDULE: AIC kicks-off it 2009-10 regular season at the Assumption Shootout (Sept. 8) and will be competing in Division I tournaments hosted by Colgate (Sept.12-13), Connecticut (Oct. 12-13), and Rhode Island (April 15). The Yellow Jackets will also host two tournaments this season, the Northeat-10 Championship (Oct. 4-5) at the Crumpin-Fox G.C. and the annual Yellow Jacket Invitational (April 19-20) at the Springfield C.C., which ends the teams regular season schedule.