The Iona Golf team finished fourth at the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships hosted in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on April 21-23.  

The Gaels led after the first day of play and were third, just three strokes off the leaders and eventual winners, Siena College.  

Iona went four under on the first day but finished six under on the second day to lose the overnight lead. The Gaels then shot over par again, shooting +10 on the final day, finishing 12 over for the three rounds.  

Despite the team finishing fourth overall, Connor Henderson was named Rookie of the Year as he finished in the top five overall places at the tournament. Henderson shot a -4 (68) par final round to finish tied 3rd at -3 overall which led to his honor.  

Gonzalo Arcelay was the other Gael to finish in the overall top ten, finishing 10th overall. Arcelay shot a -2 (70) first round, +1 (73) second round and +3 (75) final round to finish out his collegiate career with a top-10 finish.  

Parker Smith, William Fleck and Fletcher Wunderlich were the three other players to compete for the Gaels at the championships.  

Killian McGinley of Fairfield University was the individual overall winner, shooting 210 overall for six under par. The Gaels tied with Siena College for most players in the top ten with two apiece.  

The championships took place at Disney’s Palm Golf course, a par 72 course at the Disney complex.  

After finishing 14th out of 19 in their first Tournament of 2023 at the UAdvance Golf Partners, the Gaels found some form finishing 3rd out of 7 at the South Jersey Kick Off, tied 3rd out of 17 at the Battle of Rum Pointe and a good showing at the Southern Invitational with a 6th place finish out of 11.  

The team then finished 10th out of 15 at the Wildcat Spring Invitational despite sitting sixth after the first day but found some form just before the MAAC Championships as they finished fourth out of 18 at the ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational, but the Gaels were unable to use this and come back and close the gap on the final day.  

The team however did have a successful year in the classroom as they named four players to the All-Academic team.  

Junior Finnigan Davies, Senior William Fleck, Graduate student Gonzalo Arcelay and Junior Parker Smith were the four tabbed as All-Academic.