GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine men's golf team will be making its second consecutive NCAA Division III Championship appearance on Tuesday, May 12 at Mission Resort + Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. The Huskies earned the Little East Conference's automatic bid by claiming their second conference title in as many years in October. The Huskies will tee off at 11:30 am on Tuesday on the 10th hole of the Las Colinas course in the first round of the event. They are paired with St. John Fisher University and a group of five of the individuals that were selected for the competition.
 
The Huskies' lineup for the tournament consists of sophomores Owen Moore (Pittsfield, Maine/Maine Central Institute), Alex Grant (St. Albans, Maine/Nokomis Regional), Alex Fournier (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and Jaden Poirier (White River Junction, Vt./Hartford), and freshman Keenan Buteau (Scarborough, Maine). All four sophomores competed for the Huskies at last year's National Championship event with Fournier leading the Huskies with a 160 (+16) to tie for 154th over the first two rounds.
 
Despite being the only player in the lineup without NCAA tournament experience, Buteau was the top performer for the Huskies at both the conference championship and the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championship. He placed third at the LEC Championship with a two-round score of 164 (+22) to earn the LEC Rookie of the Year award and First Team All-LEC honors. He also earned NEIGA All-New England honors by tying for third at the NEIGA Championships with a two-round score of 147 (+3).
 
Fournier and Grant also each earned Second Team All-LEC honors last fall after Fournier placed seventh with a 168 (+26) and Grant tied for eighth with a 170 (+28). Poirier and Moore each earned First Team All-LEC honors in 2024 by placing second and third, respectively. Poirier shot a 142 (E) and Moore fired a 144 (+2) at the 2024 conference championship.
 
In addition to winning the LEC title, the Huskies had a fantastic fall season with seven additional first-place event finishes. The team also placed fourth at the NEIGA Championship to mark the program's highest finish since the 2013 team placed third. Southern Maine has played in two events this spring with the most recent being the New England College Spring Invitational, where they tied for the lowest team score, but finished third based on the tiebreaker. Moore was the top performer for the Huskies at both events this spring.
 
The championships are being hosted by Oglethorpe University and Greater Orlando Sports Commission. The team and individual champions will be determined after 72 holes of play or the conclusion of the last fully completed round. First and second round competition will be played simultaneously on El Campeon and Las Colinas courses with the final two rounds played on El Campeon. After 36 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams.
 
Forty-three teams and ten individuals not on one of those teams, were selected to participate in the 2026 championships for a total of 225 participants. Thirty-four conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the championships. The final nine berths were at-large selections, which include institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion or independent institutions. The ten individuals are selected from the remaining players who have not qualified with a team.