The first-ever seven-team CAC Men’s Golf Championship Tournament tees off Friday, April 18, a few minutes into the afternoon at Dauphin Highlands G.C. in suburban Harrisburg, Pa. - the home course of one of the CAC’s four new members.   The event marks the start of a new era in CAC men’s golf.

Championship Program

Three CAC full-member teams will battle for team and individual honors that have been there since the conference added men’s golf as a championship sport in 2008 – Marymount University (Va.), Wesley College and York College (Pa.).  Wesley has won half of the previous six tournament championships, while York, the defending CAC champion, has won the team title twice.

The CAC added three institutions as full members for all sports during the 2013-14 academic year, and two of them – Christopher Newport University and Penn State Harrisburg – sponsor men’s golf.  Penn State Harrisburg was chosen to host the 2014 CAC Championship in its first year as a member of the conference.

The CAC leadership also invited two schools that had been playing as independent teams – New Jersey City University and William Paterson University – to join the conference, increasing the number of men’s golf teams to seven for the first time in CAC history.  Both NJCU and WPU are in their fourth year of varsity men’s golf competition.

The addition of the two schools, who are full members of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, allows the CAC to start the process of securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the conference championship team, beginning in 2016.

So with the beginning of this new era – so new that some coaches haven’t even met some of the opposing CAC coaches yet – who will battle for medalist honors, and which team will win the 2014 championship?

Conventional wisdom points toward defending CAC champion York, which returns most of its lineup from the 2013 title team, as the starting point for the discussion.  However, Wesley has been a traditionally-strong team in the CAC.  Additionally, CNU and Penn State Harrisburg were annual championship contenders in their previous conferences.  Marymount, NJCU and William Paterson hope to upset the balance of power, both in the chase for medalist honors and in the team standings.

Individually, York senior Kevin Long and Marymount junior Brad Johnson are the highest scorers in last year’s championship to return in 2014.  Long placed third overall, earning All-CAC for the third-straight year, while Johnson placed sixth overall at the championship, posting a 10-over-par 154 for 36 holes at Wild Quail G.C. in Dover, Del.

Right behind Johnson were five more York players – all of which return to the Spartans roster this year.  Spartans earning second-team All-CAC recognition last year were senior Travis Oot, junior David Boslough and sophomores Tyler Keim and Ryan Wolbach.  Boslough has the second-best scoring average in the CAC this season (75.8 in 10 rounds).

Newcomers to watch in the championship include senior Jonathan Howard, sophomore Matt DiSalvo and freshman Sam Robinson.  DiSalvo has the CAC’s best scoring average this year (75.5 in 16 rounds), while Howard (76.8) and Robinson (76.9) are close behind.

Penn State Harrisburg’s Tyler Serres and Tyler Shank hope to use home course knowledge to their advantage during the championship.  Shank, a freshman, boasts a 78.8 scoring average while Serres, a sophomore, is right behind at 79.5.

The championship starts Thursday (4/17) with a practice round, followed by 18-hole outings on Friday (4/18) and Saturday (4/19).  The championship awards presentation ceremony will be Saturday afternoon.

Here is a quick look at each team heading into the 2014 CAC Championship Tournament, which will culminate with the presentation of the championship trophy after Saturday’s (4/19) second day of competition:

In his sixth season at the helm of CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT golf, head coach Jamie Coleman has turned the Captains into a perennial contender at the national level. CNU has qualified for two of the last three national championship tournaments, and has featured a PING All-American in each of the last three seasons. This year, sophomore Matt DiSalvo leads a talented CNU group with a 75.7 stroke average and a pair of top twenty finishes. Senior Jonathan Howard helped CNU qualify for back-to-back national championships as a freshman and sophomore, and is looking to close his career with a third trip in 2014. Howard is second on the squad with a 76.8 stroke average, while rookie Sam Robinson is third just one-tenth of a stroke back, at 76.9 per round.

MARYMOUNT looks to win its first CAC Golf Championship this season.  The Saints are led by a pair of past All-CAC honorees in second teamers Mark Curtis (2012) and Brad Johnson (2013).  Johnson currently leads the Blue and White with a 79.8 stroke average while Curtis averages 84.4.

NEW JERSEY CITY is in its fourth season of intercollegiate men's golf status and is competing in a spring season for the third time. This will be the Gothic Knights' first appearance in the Capital Athletic Conference men's golf championship since joining the league as an associate member in March, 2014. NJCU is guided by third-year head coach Tim Black. NJCU will be without senior Matt Smith, the team's leading golfer, who completed his eligibility in the fall season when he shot a team season-low 81. Frank Rivera, a former 7-year military veteran, including the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars, has the low average of NJCU's returning players including a low round of 87.

PENN STATE HARRISBURG has had its ups and downs all season with a steady trend of success throughout.  With four different players finishing as the team scoring leader throughout the year, the Lions are very well rounded.  Tyler Shank has been the most consistent finisher for Harrisburg. At the Gettysburg Spring Invitational, Shank won his first collegiate tournament of his career.  Jason Long, the team's lone senior, struggled early in the year, but recently found his swing.  He and Tyler Serres finished tied for the team's top spot in the top tier Camp Leujune Invitational tournament.  Matt Hoare and Corey Jackson fill out the remaining top five likely to compete at this weekend's championships. Harrisburg definitely has the weapons to be very dangerous this weekend, but will need to all be firing together if they hope to be in a winning position on the final day.

WESLEY, which has placed in the top three in the Capital Athletic Conference ever since joining the CAC, will be led by sophomore newcomer Dylan Chessher in 2014. A sophomore from Dover, Del., Chessher has been shooting in the low 80s all season and is followed closely by freshman Ricky Mulloy. Ryan Gerlitz, Cole Messick and Ryan Strain are all expected to score for the Wolverines.

Competing in its fourth season on the Division III level, WILLIAM PATERSON (1-1) participates in its first conference tournament this weekend. Sophomore James Nuzzo paces the Pioneers with an 83.7 strokes-per-round season average, followed by freshman Christian Foti at 85.7 strokes per round. Senior Frank Herudek ranks third for WP (90.7), ahead of junior John Quirolo and freshman Kyle Stefanic at 92.0 strokes per round. Sophomore Dylan Schley (92.8) and senior Michael Calabro (96.6) round out the group.

YORK enters the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference as the defending champions with their starting lineup nearly intact from last year. Senior Kevin Long headlines a strong cast with junior David Boslough, sophomore Ryan Wolbach, and freshman Anthony Wagner all having played very well during the year. York has captured four tournament championships during the year as they also tied for another. Boslough leads York with a 76.7 scoring average while Long is right behind him at 77.5 strokes per round. Wagner is the third Spartan averaging in the 70's as the first year Spartan owns an average of 79.0. Wolbach averages 80.4 and has been playing well as of late for York.