Gulls With Two Stroke Lead After Day One of CCC Championships

BEVERLY, Mass.-  Following the conclusion of play on day one of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Golf Championship, three time defending champion Endicott College (303) holds a two stroke lead over Western New England (305), while Nichols (313) and Wentworth (329) are well within striking distance.  The four squads will reconvene tomorrow for the second and final round of the championship with the first group set to tee off at 12:00 p.m. 

With CCC Championship scoring, each team plays five golfers and then gets to keep the lowest four scores, in essence dropping the highest on each day of the championship.  Following day one, Endicott used rounds of 75, 75, 76 and 77 to make their round of 303.  Austin Teal (Loudonville, N.Y.) and Ben Palazzo (Farmington, Conn.) carded the rounds of 75 while Dan Negus (Pembroke, Mass.) and Alex Viola (Brunswick, Maine) recorded the rounds of 76 and 77 respectively.  Endicott's "high round" on the day was an impressive 79 shot by Drew Benshoff (Concord, Mass.) which would have scored for every other squad. 

Western New England was in a close second at the end of play as the Golden Bears used individual scores of 73, 76, 77 and 79 to total a team score of 305 on the day, with an 80 not being claimed.  WNE's John Abbot (Higganum, Conn.) shot the lowest round of the day, shooting a +3, 73 to lead the Golden Bears, while Matt Fontaine (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) shot rounds of 76 and 77.    Nick Shemkovitz (Meriden, Conn.) finished the scoring for WNE with a round of 79 while Joseph DaSilva (Watertown, Conn.) finished right behind with a round of 80.

Nichols finished the round with a team score of 313 which consisted of rounds of 75, 78, 79 and 81.  Kevin Wheeler (Agawam, Mass.) tied with Teal and Palazzo for the second lowest round of the day with a 75 to lead the Bison.  Nick Masciadrelli (Westfield, Mass.) shot a 78 while Nick Wage (Holden, Mass.) and Remy Fletcher (Billerica, Mass.) closed with rounds of 79 and 81, respectively.  Caleb Tanson (Rockport, Mass.) finished with a round of 85 to close the day for Nichols.

Wentworth, after producing a team score of 329 on the first day, played well after carding rounds of 77, 82, 85 and 85.  Brandon Goold (Foxboro, Mass.) led the way for the Leopards with an impressive +7, 77 which tied him for seventh on the day.  Dante Christofori (Springfield, Mass.) finished second for WIT with an 82 while Pat Sullivan (Needham, Mass.) and Brad Tyler (San Diego, Calif.) each recorded rounds of 85.  Paul Arsenault (Middleton, Mass.) closed out the day for WIT with an 88.

The four squads will meet again tomorrow for the second and final round of the championship with the first group set to tee off at 12:00 p.m.  Please see below for scheduled tee times at Beverly Golf and Tennis.

12pm Drew Benshoff, EC – Nick Shemkovitz, WNEU – Remy Fletcher, NC – Paul Arsenault, WIT
12:08 Dan Negus, EC – Mike Gelineau, WNEU – Caleb Tanson, NC – Brad Tyler, WIT
12:15 Ben Palazzo, EC – Joe DaSilva, WNEU – Nick Masciadrelli, NC – Dante Christofori, WIT
12:23 Alex Viola, EC – Matt Fontaine, WNEU – Nick Wage, NC – Pat Sullivan, WIT               
12:30 Austin Teal, EC – John Abbott, WNEU – Kevin Wheeler, NC – Brandon Goold, WIT