Springfield, Mass. – Sophomore Nicholas Bove (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) earned medalist honors to lead the Le Moyne College men's golf team to first place at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship by 11 strokes on Tuesday at the par-72, 6531-yard Springfield Country Club.

The championship is the program's third, all under the direction of head coach Joe Tesori '71, to go along with wins in 2008 and 2016. With the victory, the Dolphins claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in May. The eight-team field for East Region of the NCAA Championship will be announced on Friday evening. In last week's regional rankings, the Dolphins were sixth. The bid will be the 15th for the Dolphins in the last 19 Championships. The Atlantic/East Regional will be contested May 6-8 and hosted by Mercyhurst University at Lake View Country Club in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Le Moyne finished the one-day, 36-hole event with a 607. The Dolphins carded a 307 in the first round to land in second place, one shot off the lead. They followed with a 300, the best round of the championship, to win the title by 11 shots. Assumption University and Franklin Pierce University finished in a tie for second place with a 618. The Greyhounds posted a 316 in the first round to land in sixth place and then recorded a 302 (the second-best score of the day) in the second round to move up the standings. The Ravens turned in a 306 in the morning to take the first-round lead and then tallied a 312 in the second 18.

Bove is the seventh Dolphin to claim medalist honors and the first to do so since fellow West Genesee alum John Clare '17 in 2015. Bove, who tied for third place at last year's rain-shortened championship, finished the 36 holes with a three-over par 147. He led the championship with 27 pars and added three birdies. He opened the championship with a two-over par 74 to land in a tie for second place. Bove then recorded a one-over par 73, which included two birdies, to finish first by one shot.

Freshman Spencer Baum (Syracuse, N.Y./Liverpool) finished in third place with a 150, which included a championship-best eight birdies. He registered five birdies en route to a 76 in the first round, which landed him in a four-way tie for seventh place. He jumped up the standings with a 74, including three birdies, in the second round.

Freshman Tyler Birdd (Elma, N.Y./Iroquois) and senior Ryan Johnson (Norwich, N.Y./Norwich) were part of a four-way tie for 11th place with a 156. Birdd registered a 78 to place in a three-way tie for 16th following the first round. He moved up five spots in the second round after recording another 78. After opening the Championship with a 79 to land in a seven-way tie for 19th place, Johnson climbed the standings in the second round with a 77 for his best finish in three appearances at the championship.

Sophomore Luke Barney (Apalachin, N.Y./Vestal) tied for 20th place in his first NE10 championship by registering a 158. He opened with an 82 and then moved up 12 places in the standings with a 76.