ChampionsGate, Fla. / ChampionsGate Golf Club-Robert Morris University senior men's golfer C.G. Mercatoris (Brookville, Pa. / Brookville) took medalist honors at the 2011 Northeast Conference Men's Golf Championships while leading the Colonials to a second-place showing at ChampionsGate Golf Club's 6,937-yard, par 72 International Course. Mercatoris is the first RMU player since 1996 and just the third Colonial in history to earn medalist honors at the NEC Championship.
The second-place showing is the team's best finish since taking runner-up honors in 2004. The Colonials shot a 311 total Sunday putting their three-round aggregate at 910, 22 strokes behind winner Sacred Heart (888) and four swings ahead of third-place Mount St. Mary's (914). Central Connecticut State was fourth (915) followed by Saint Francis (Pa.) (917), Fairleigh Dickinson (919), Monmouth (921), Long Island (923), Wagner (963) and St. Francis (N.Y.) (1,019).
Mercatoris continued one of the most impressive careers in school history by beating the field by two strokes. He finished the event with a 215 total, one stroke under par, after carding a 74 during the final 18 holes. The senior managed four more birdies Sunday to finish with 14 birds in 54 holes. Mercatoris shot 71 and 70 in the events first two rounds to earn NEC All-Tournament honors for the third year in a row.
Mercatoris has now won four tournaments as a senior, including both of the last two events. In 38 career events, he had 20 top-10 finishes, 10 top-5 showings and four tournament titles.
Sophomore Brock Pompeani (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell) joins Mercatoris on the NEC All-Tournament Team courtesy his sixth-place showing. Pompeani tied two other golfers with his 221 three-round total. He finished the event with a birdie and five bogeys during the last round to add a 76 to his previous scores of 73 and 72. Pompeani and Mercatoris are the first RMU duo to both finish in the top-10 since 2004.
Sophomore Donny Lewis (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) managed to tie for 32nd with a 236 total that featured six birdies in three rounds. He took credit for an 81 in the final round after scores of 80 and 75 in the first two forays. Sophomore Brandon Pompeani (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell) got back three strokes in the final round from his score on Saturday. He finished with an 80, totaling 241 strokes to put himself into a tie for 38th. Sophomore Max Cahn (Nyack, N.Y. / Nyack) rounded out the Robert Morris participants in 49th place with a score of 250. He shot 86-80-84 in his three rounds of play.
