BALTIC, Conn. – Freshman Cole Madden shot a career-best 72 including one-under on an impressive front nine that included three birdies as the Keene State College men's golf team moved up two spots to finish fourth as a team at the 2026 Little East Conference championship hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University at the Mohegan Sun Golf Club on Wednesday.

The Owls shot a 319 as a team in the first round Tuesday and sat in sixth as a team but rebounded to post the third-best team score (308) on the day to move past both Rhode Island College and Vermont State University Castleton.

A fair chunk of that is thanks to Madden, a freshman from Hanover, Mass., who added a memorable surge to his rookie campaign, moving up 10 spots on the individual leaderboard and earning an All-LEC Second Team recognition.  He finished the day with four birdies and improved his score on the front nine by six shots after a 40 yesterday, carding a birdie on No. 3, No. 5, and No. 7, bettering his score from a pair yesterday on two of the three holes.  He also finished with a three on the par-4 No. 12, and played the 15th through the 17th even after having a bogey on each of those yesterday.

KSC also got sub-80 scores from Taylor Miller (77) and Sean Bonneau (78), a combined 13 stroke improvement between the duo from their Tuesday finishes, with Bonneau shooting a team-best 37 (+1) on the final nine holes.  He parred six of those and added a birdie as the Owls' four scorers were a combined plus-9 on the back nine to finish strong after a plus-15 effort from the four counted scores on the same segment of holes a day ago.

"It was a great day for Cole and the team," said KSC head coach Jeff Timmer.  "We really fought today to move up after a tough day (yesterday).  I am proud of how they battled today."

KSC was 11 shots better than Castleton (318+319=637) today, who finished fifth, and 21 better than Rhode Island College (315+329=644) who moved down two spots into sixth.  It seemed the Owls were also poised to pass Western Connecticut State University and move into third, but the Wolves notched seven birdies and turned a plus-23 effort from their four counted scores on the front nine to just plus-3 (one even par 36 and three with a 37) on the back to deny the Owls.

Madden's 72 was the third-best score on the day across the whole field at the event, trailing only Eastern Connecticut's Ryan O'Donnell (69), who eagled No. 12 and had three other birdies, and Will Farschon of the University of Southern Maine (71).

"I loved competing in my first conference championship and I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to compete with," said Madden.  "They have led by example this whole season. 
I worked through some putting struggles with Coach last week and it definitely paid off today. I was able to get up and down a few times and my wedges were very solid. I hit a lot of fairways off the tee which made my approach shots easier."

USM's SJ Welch won the individual medalist honors and shot a 72 today, while Farschon placed third after his under-par effort as the Huskies finished with a team 580 over the two days to post their third consecutive conference championship in what is the first LEC title event of the new academic year.  Eastern Connecticut briefly took the lead in the later stages of the event at their home course, but four bogeys across No. 16 and No. 17 among their scorers acted to nullify an otherwise eye-catching (11 birdies, one eagle) effort on the back nine as they attempted a rally.  Those two teams were neck-and-neck the whole time, with USM entering the day with a five-stroke lead (287-292).  Eastern had the best score of today with a 291, two better than USM, while KSC's 308 was third-best.

Timmer noted that for KSC, the next step in their evolution, will be work with wedges, as ECSU and USM are both able to land close approaches, particularly from 120 yards and in, to earn short and very makeable putts.

The Owls finished with seven birdies on the day, six from their scoring group and the other on the final hole of the LEC championship for Ben Fecteau.  Aidan Davis rounded out KSC's scoring with an 81.

KSC avoided another rollercoaster of a team finish with their move up today, as the Owls finished sixth of six in their inaugural season, second the following year, fifth in 2024-2025, and third a season ago in 2025-2026.

The Owls will conclude their fall on Sunday (October 18) when they visit the Vermont State University Castleton Invitational at the Quechee Club in Vermont.