April 24, 2022

The Basics

• The lead: Sophomore Gus Vickers won the individual title with a program-record final round to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology golf team to its second straight MAC Freedom team championship Sunday at the two-day conference championship tournament. 
• Team Score: Stevens (300-287=587) - first place of nine teams
• Location: Huntsville Golf Club - Dallas, Pa. (Par 72 -6,500 yards) - hosted by Wilkes University
• Short Story: After building a 15-stroke lead in the opening round, the Ducks were even better on the final day of competition, finishing 1-under Sunday to finish 49 strokes ahead of Arcadia, who totaled 636. Stevens' total of 287 was 34 strokes ahead of the field over the final 18 holes and matched the program record for the lowest team round. After finishing 3-over in the opening round, Vickers was simply brilliant in the final round, carding four birdies and two eagles to trim nine strokes off his opening-round score to finish with a 6-under 66, breaking the program record for lowest single-round score, besting senior Eddie Sot's score of 68, which was achieved twice this season and once during the 2019-20 campaign. Vickers' two-round score of 141 also set a new program record, topping the previous mark of 142, which was also held by Sot.
• The Leaderboard: Stevens finished 11-over for the tournament and won the team championship by 49 strokes. Arcadia finished second, with Misericordia (668), Wilkes (672) and Delaware Valley (679) rounding out the top-five. Individually, Vickers finished four strokes ahead of junior Eegan McDermott, who finished 1-over for the tournament.  
• The Awards: Vickers' individual title earned the second-year golfer the MAC Freedom's Golfer of the Year honors, marking the second straight year that a Stevens men's golfer has earned the conference's top honor. Head coach Charles Papendick was named the league's Coach of the Year and Delaware Valley's Ethan Saxe and Wilkes' Cole Jungwirth were tabbed co-Rookies of the Year to round out the individual honors. In terms of all-conference accolades, all five of the Ducks' competitors landed on the MAC Freedom's First Team. The Ducks' five were joined by Misericordia's Ethan Zawatski, who tied for fourth place with senior A.J. Iacobellis and Sot. 

The Finishes

• The Ducks totaled 29 birdies, 19 more than any other team in the field. The team also carded three eagles and totaled 98 pars. 
• The Ducks averaged 2.92 strokes on par 3's, 4.44 strokes on par 4's and 4.65 on par 5's.
• McDermott finished second, totaling a 145. He shot an opening round 70 and then shot a 75 to finish 3-over for the tournament. He carded three birdies in the opening round and two in the second round to finish four shots off the pace.
• Junior Miles Philion finished third, knocking off seven strokes from his opening-round score to total 153 for the tournament. After not finishing under par on any hole in the opening round, the Delhi, New York native had five in the final round to finish the day 1-over and +9 for the tournament.
• Iacobellis and Sot tied for fourth place at 10-over. Iacobellis shot an opening-round 75 and then followed with a 79 Sunday, while Sot shot an 81 in the opening round and then knocked eight strokes off his day one score to match Philion at 1-over Sunday. Iacobellis carded six birdies for the tournament, while Sot had five birdies and an eagle.

From the Greens (Head Coach Charles Papendick)

• "So excited for Gus and for our team as we return to nationals for the second year in a row. This weekend was such a great experience for our players, especially for our seniors, Eddie and A.J."
• "Our guys came to play today and really wanted the opportunity to earn their way to Florida. Super proud of all of them."

Up Next

• Golf returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The event will be held May 10-13 at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Orlando, Florida. 

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