All-tourney pick Daley takes sixth
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Alex Daley (Hudson, Mass.) had another strong outing Sunday, wrapping up a stellar Bryant career with a final round score of 73 to lead all Bulldogs and finish the 2011 Northeast Conference Golf Championships in sixth place overall, carding a 221 on the three-round season finale tournament.
Daley's 73 led all five Bulldogs competing for the second-consecutive day as the senior moved up four spots from the start of the round, earning his best finish of the season in his third top-10 finish of the year. His 221 was just a combined five strokes over par and earned him a spot on the 2011 NEC All-Tournament Team.
Classmate Michael Pyne (Foxboro, Mass.) earned a top-20 finish himself, scoring a round-three 76 to take a tie for 18th overall (76-80-76=232) in the 55-golfer field. Senior Greg Najarian (Rumford, R.I.) continued his climb up the standings with his best 18 holes of the weekend, and a Sunday 75 placed the Bulldog 28th (81-78-75=234) in the field after ending day-one competition in 39th overall.
Senior Kyle Hoffman (Pawtucket, R.I.) fell off with a final-round 85, nine strokes back from his Saturday score and 11 from his Friday outing, to finish tied for 29th with a three-day score of 235 (74-76-85), just a single stroke behind Najarian.
Brent Besch (Wallingford, Conn.) matched his Saturday round with another 80 and finished 34th overall (77-80-80=237).
Three-day leader C.G. Mercatoris of Robert Morris finished as the 2011 NEC Champion, taking the title by two strokes after a round-three 74, his only round in which the senior finished over par. He would go one under on the weekend (71-70-74=215).
Sacred Heart ran away with the team competition, though the Pioneers posted just the third-best score of the day Sunday. They would finish the tournament carding an 888 (+24), 22 strokes ahead of second-place Robert Morris (910).
The Bulldogs, who are competing only as individuals as they are ineligible to qualify for NCAA team play due to the four-year reclassification process, carded a 304 on the day and have remained remarkably consistent throughout the tournament. Bryant's final total came in at 913 (304-305-304), a score that would have secured the Black and Gold third overall, one stroke ahead of Mount St. Mary's, who had the best Sunday round (297) in the NEC field.
Central Connecticut finished in fourth with a 915, while Saint Francis (PA) rounded out the top five with a three-day 917. Fairleigh Dickinson (919), Monmouth (921), Long Island (923), Wagner (963) and St. Francis (NY) (1019) finished out the field in order.