KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island head coach Gregg Burke announced the addition of three incoming freshman for the 2027-28 men's golf team. Tanner LaTorre, Michael McCormack and Priyam Nayak have all signed National Letters of Intent with the program.

"This is our fourth great class in a row," Burke said. "We will be getting three players who will contend for starting positions from Day 1. It is a great sign that we made offers to just three players and they all committed. In this class, we got the number one rated and the number six rated player in the Northeast."

LaTorre is a native of Nassau, N.Y. coming out of Ichabod Crane High School, where he earned six varsity letters. A two-time PGA Junior Championship qualifier (2024 and 2026), he was the 2026 Northern Junior Champion. LaTorre also was a 2025 International Junior Master Champion, as well as the 2024 NYSGA Boys 14-U champion in the junior golf ranks.

Ranked No. 1 in his class in the Northeast, LaTorre is ranked 134th out of all high school players in the United States and Canada. He chose URI over Xavier.

"Tanner comes in as one of the best recruits we've ever had," Burke said. "He is good enough to play at number one at any point. He is the top-rated player, in all classes, in the Northeast, and his national ranking is the best of any player we've had in my 15 years. He certainly shows every sign of being able to play at the next level."

Joining LaTorre is McCormack, who is a two-time Massachusetts state champion for Xaverian Brother's High School. The Easton, Mass. native is a three-time Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic selection. He is an all-around athlete who also competes in hockey and baseball.

Ranked No. 1 in JGS golf rankings in Massachusetts, McCormack is a three-time Challenge Cup champion, as well as a co-medalist in the Division I South Sectional. He was the runner up at the 2026 Division I Massachusetts state championship, as well as a semifinalist at the 2025 Mass Junior.  

McCormack is ranked No. 5 in the Northeast in his class, and 545th nationally.

"Michael committed as a diamond in the rough but has emerged as one of the most talented and most consisted players in junior golf," Burke said. "He is a superstar in the making. I give credit to Associate Head Coach Brandon Gillis for identifying him as a young man with great potential before anyone really knew a lot about him."

A highly-decorated player out of Iselin, N.J., Nayak has been on the Rhode Island radar for a while. A two-time Greater Middlesex Conference School champion (2023 and 2026), Nayak set the tournament course record with a 64 in 2026.

He has multiple top-five NJPGA Tournament finishes, as well as an 11th place finish at the 2026 Bubba Conlee Junior Golf Tournament. He was named the team MVP for John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in both 2026 and 2023. In 2020, he was the NJPGA Boys 11–15 Player of the Year. He is ranked 648th nationally.

"Priyam was among our top recruits for the 2026 class, but we just didn't feel we could take a third player," Burke said. "Obviously, we did not know at the time that we would lose to players to the portal. He reclassified so he could play for us. He took the year off to concentrate on his game and we are very excited to see that work pay off."

The caliber of players coming to the program next year is an indication of the program's growth in recent years. Burke has led the Rams to back-to-back national postseason appearances, going to the National Golf Invitational in 2025 and 2026.

"We've been able to concentrate on players ranked in the top 600," Burke said. "Those are pretty lofty ratings for our program."