Trinity's Longley Earns Player, Rookie of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. – Propelled by a strong showing at the 2006 NESCAC Golf Championship, Trinity freshman Reid Longley (Atlanta, Ga.) came away as both the 2006 NESCAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Longley carded a two-day total of 147 at the Brunswick Golf Club in Brunswick, Maine over the weekend to finish atop the field of 50. It is the second year in a row that a player from Trinity has earned Player of the Year honors, after Bantam senior George Boudria (Mendham, N.J.) received the honor in 2005.

Longley shot a 75 on day one of the 2006 NESCAC Golf Championship, helping the Bantams settle into third place after the first round. With an even par-72 performance by Longley on Sunday afternoon, Trinity ended the tournament in a two-way tie for first with Middlebury, however the Panthers held the tiebreaker advantage over the Bantams to take the 2006 crown.

The 2006 NESCAC Golf All-Conference teams, selected based upon individual finish at the championship, saw a total of nine linksmen make the cut for the First Team, while five individuals garnered Second Team recognition. Longley earned NESCAC All-Conference First Team honors in addition to being named Player and Rookie of the Year, and was one of three Bantams to earn All-Conference recognition as freshman David Anderson (Wellesley, Mass.) and Boudria both received Second Team recognition.

Earning NESCAC All-Conference First Team recognition for the second consecutive year was Middlebury sophomore Harrison Bane (Marblehead, Mass.). Bane, the 2005 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, posted identical rounds of 74 on both days of the tournament, finishing one shot shy of Longley with a score of 148. Bane was joined on the First Team by junior George Baumann (Mequon, Wis.), who finished in a two-way tie for fifth place with a score of 154. Baumann shot a 74 on day two of the championship, helping his Panther squad shave 18 strokes off their round one total en route to a 300 round and a 618 final.

Williams senior Kevin Kellert (Toms River, N.J.) was the only other holdover from last year’s All-Conference First Team. Kellert entered the NESCAC Golf Championship with plenty of momentum after a successful September, leading his teammates at the Brunswick Golf Club with a two-day total of 153 and a fourth-place showing. It was the second year in a row that Kellert has finished among the top five golfers at the championship, after finishing tied for third in 2005. Along with Kellert, junior Brendan Conley (Rye, N.Y.) and sophomore Tyler Zara (New Canaan, Conn.) were also named to the First Team from Williams.

Rounding out the 2006 NESCAC Golf All-Conference First Team were two golfers from Hamilton, junior Mike Hayes (Homer, N.Y.) and sophomore Jeff Corbett (Stoneham, Mass.), and Amherst senior Drew Russ (Maui, Hawaii). While Hayes posted the lowest round of any participant over the weekend on Sunday with a one-under score of 71, he came up four strokes shy of medaling in his third tournament this fall, finishing in third place at the NESCAC Golf Championship with a score of 151. Corbett and Russ both finished on Sunday tied for seventh with Zara of Williams with a score of 155.

NESCAC Coach of the Year honors went to Trinity head coach Bill Detrick. Detrick guided the Bantams to a second-place showing at this year’s championship, a program-best, after setting the mark during the 2005 tournament with a third-place finish.