EDISON, N.J. – After bringing home the first MAAC Championship since 1997 for Fairfield University Men's Golf, the Stags have earned a pair of major awards from the conference. MAAC Champion
Tadgh Burke was selected as the MAAC Rookie of the Year, while Director of Golf
Doug Holub has been tabbed by his peers as the MAAC Coach of the Year.
This season is the first in which the MAAC's major awards have been selected by a vote after the championship with performance over the entirety of the season to be considered. Previously, the individual MAAC Champion was named Player of the Year, while the top-finishing rookie was the Rookie of the Year.
Burke raised the McLeod Trophy on Saturday as individual MAAC Champion as the culmination of a standout freshman campaign with the Stags. He shot a 210 (-6) through 54 holes this past weekend to edge MAAC Player of the Year Aaron Sorkin of Mount St. Mary's by one stroke. Burke, who carded seven rounds of par or better in his rookie campaign, was previously named to the All-MAAC Second Team.
Holub earned MAAC Men's Coach of the Year for the second time to go along with three MAAC Women's Coach of the Year nods in his career. He made history in 2021 as the first coach to win both awards in the same season. Holub is assisted by
Sara LaTerza and
Shane DeVincenzo.
The MAAC Championship for Fairfield Men's Golf was the program's first since 1997. The Stags also won the 15-team Battle at Rum Pointe this season along with a second-place finish at the Abarta Coca-Cola Invitational and a third-place showing at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate. Holub coached four Stags to All-MAAC laurels: First Team selections
Peter Crowe and
Colin Summers as well as Second Team honorees Burke and
Rasmus Ditzinger.
Burke is the third total McLeod Trophy winner under Holub, joining fellow men's golfer Killian McGinley (2023) and women's standout Maria Beltran (2024).
Fairfield Men's Golf is set to participate in the NCAA Championship as a team for the first time. The regional fields will be announced on Wednesday, April 30 at 1 p.m. live on the Golf Channel.
