NORTH SUTTON, N.H. – Freshmen Matthew Kowalik and Taylor Miller each shot impressive rounds in their collegiate debuts as the Keene State College men's golf team opened their 2025-2026 season at the Country Club of New Hampshire, host of the New England College Invitational on Sunday.

Kowalik, an Elgin, Illinois native, shot a plus-five 77 in his first collegiate round, including a birdie on his first-ever hole.  He also birdied the 450-yard par five No. 13 to move to plus-one on his day, which also featured eight pars up to that point.  Kowalik finished with a plus-two 38 on the front nine and a plus-three 39 on the back nine, finishing just two strokes away from co-winners Michael Murphy (Salem State University) and Graham Hassan (New England College), who each finished with a 75 (+3).  Hassan made up three strokes on Murphy on the final hole, coming through with an eagle while Murphy bogeyed, and finished minus-2 on the back nine after also posting birdies on No. 10 and No. 16.

Every stroke and every shot proved critical in the scoring on this day, as four of the five teams were separated by just five strokes.  Salem State took the team title with a 311 (+23), with the University of Southern Maine – the defending LEC champion – shooting a 314, New England College a 315, and KSC a 316.

All five of the Owls' entrants finished in the top 15, including Stoddard native and Keene High product Taylor Miller, who had a plus-six 78 in his collegiate debut.  He was plus-four on the front nine but bounced back with three pars and two birdies on the back nine, including a four on the 525-yard par five 18th hole, one of just five scores better than a par on that hole on the day.

Keene State's contingent also included Aidan Davis, who finished with 11 pars and an 80, Sean McCaffrey (81), and Sean Bonneau (82).  McCaffrey had a birdie on the Par 5 third hole while Bonneau birdied No. 9, with that pair combining for 10 pars on the back nine as well, but four double bogeys proved costly on the team scoring for KSC.
It was by far the Owls' best score as a team at this event, which has opened each of their four varsity golf seasons since 2022.  KSC finished 29 strokes better than their 345 from a season ago and 20 strokes better than their previous-best mark of 336 in 2023.

"I'm very proud of the men today," said Keene State head coach Jeff Timmer.  "We played great under some tough course conditions.  It was a good first round from our two freshmen, a nice start to their careers.  Now we need to just keep building."

The Owls will travel to Barre, Vt. for the Tony Mariano Invitational hosted by Norwich University on Wednesday (September 10).