Potsdam, NY - A tournament-course record, five-under par 67 by Skidmore College's John McCarthy led the Thoroughbreds to the Liberty League Golf Championship qualifier title Sunday afternoon at the par-72 Potsdam Town and Country Club Golf Course.

Skidmore earns the right to host the Liberty League championship in April.  The match-play event will include Rensselaer, Rochester, and Clarkson with the winner claiming the league's automatic NCAA Division III berth.
 
Skidmore easily won the event by 13 strokes after  rushing out to an 11-stroke lead after day one, and holding off Rensselaer on the second day. The Thoroughbreds (583) had three of the top five golfers in the field, while the Engineers (596) had two of the top five. The University of Rochester came in third overall among the team scores with 616, followed by Clarkson (623), St. Lawrence (625), Hobart College (627) and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (783).

McCarthy shot a 74 on the first day, but blistered the course to a tune of 67 on day two, including six birdies and just one bogey to earn Liberty Player of the Year honors. Teammate Garrett Colgan led the field after the first day, shooting one-under, but shot one-over on day two to take second overall and finish the tournament at even-par. Coming in third was Rensselaer's Grant Rosener, who was consistent with a pair of 73's, and teammate Brandon Mader came in fourth, two strokes behind Rosener. Rounding out the Liberty League all-stars was Skidmore's Zach Grossman, who tied for fourth with Mader at 148, four-over par in the two day event.

Playing outside of his team's top five, Rochester's Tyler Scarborough shot a 149 over two days to make the Liberty League Second-Team and come in sixth overall. In a three-way tie for seventh were Clarkson's Wood, RPI's Matt Lussier, and Skidmore's Anthony Dilisio who all earned second-team honors.

"The team played another solid tournament and was fortunate enough to finish on top," said Skidmore coach Josh Cupp.  "There is room to improve and everyone knows what they need to fine tune to achieve better scores individually.  This season is a process and the team is evolving as a unit and as individuals."

Cupp was impressed with McCarthy's play, "John is an incredibly gifted golfer.  Five under 67 is legitimately low.  I hope he can take from today and remember he has the ability to go very low and build on that."
 
The Thoroughbreds will play in the GolfWeek Division III Invite Oct. 9-11 at the Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, Fla.
 
Liberty League Championship
Dates: 09/24-09/25, 2011
Round: 2
FINAL RESULTS * Individual
Par-Yardage: 72-6573
COLLEGIATE SCORING SYSTEM GOLFSTAT.COM
Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 Skidmore College 291 292 583
2 Rensselaer Poly. Tec 302 294 596
3 Rochester, Univ of 313 303 616
4 Clarkson University 308 315 623
5 St. Lawrence 316 309 625
6 Hobart College 317 310 627
7 U.S. Merchant Marine 391 392 783
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 John McCarthy Skidmore 74 67 141
2 Garrett Colgan Skidmore 71 73 144
3 Grant Rosener RPI 73 73 146
4 Brandon Mader RPI 74 74 148
Zach Grossman Skidmore 72 76 148
6 *Tyler Scarborough Rochester 73 76 149
7 Rob Wood Clarkson 75 75 150
Matt Lussier RPI 77 73 150
Anthony Dilisio Skidmore 74 76 150
10 Michael Chudacoff Rochester 77 74 151
Tyler Cline Clarkson 74 77 151
12 Ben Ayres Hobart 74 78 152
13 Scott Pinder Skidmore 77 76 153
Rafael Baez Rochester 79 74 153
15 Jack Reardon StLawrence 77 78 155
William Mallia Rochester 77 78 155
Jesse Branken RPI 78 77 155
Taylor Wetherby RPI 81 74 155
19 Joel Bailey Clarkson 78 78 156
Jeff Duggan StLawrence 80 76 156