Xie Leads After 36 Holes at Shocker Invitational - Seton Hall University Athletics
Graduate student Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) is tied for the individual lead and has paced the Seton Hall men's golf team to a fifth-place standing ...
Seton Hall is tied for fifth in a strong field entering round three on Tuesday.
NEWTON, KAN. – Graduate student Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) is tied for the individual lead and has paced the Seton Hall men's golf team to a fifth-place standing after two rounds of the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational.
Xie had a fantastic Monday with a pair of sub-par rounds to climb into a five-way tie for the individual lead with 18 holes remaining. Xie had just one blemish in the morning a bogey on hole No. 10, otherwise, he had six birdies and 11 pars in route to a 5-under-par, 67, to match his single-round career best. In round two, Xie had five more birdies and added an eagle on the par-4, No. 11 hole in route to a 4-under-par, 68.
Through two rounds, Xie is tied for first with a 9-under-par, 67-68-135. He now has 33 sub-par rounds for his career, which ranks second-most in program history.
Collectively, The Hall had two strong rounds on Monday. The Pirates shot a 3-under-par, 285, in the morning, and shaved three additional strokes off in the afternoon for a 6-under-par, 282. Entering round three, Seton Hall is 9-under-par with a 285-282-567. Host Wichita State is currently the team leader at 20-under-par.
Patrick Kahanek (San Antonio, Texas) had two birdies and 14 pars in round one on his way to an even-par, 72. He shaved off a pair of strokes in the afternoon thanks to five birdies to finish with a 2-under-par, 70. For the tournament, he's tied for 21st place with a 2-under-par, 72-70-142.
Sophomore Jack Bosworth (Simsbury, Conn.) is chasing a career-best tournament and is even-par after 36 holes. He had five birdies in round one and three birdies in round two for a pair of even-par, 72, scores on Monday. Bosworth is currently tied for 32nd at even-par with a 72-72-144.
George Fricker (Woodbridge, England) and Wanxi Sun (Danville, Calif.) rounded out the Pirates scoring and are tied for 61st place overall at 4-over-par.
Fricker was consistent with a pair of 2-over-par, 74, scores. Sun had 12 pars in round one to fuel a 4-over-par, 76, but shaved off four strokes in round two thanks to five birdies to finish with an even-par, 72.
Tournament Details:
GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL
Host: Wichita State University
Location: Newton, Kan.
Course: Sand Creek Station
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,367 yards
Dates: October 9-10, 2023
TOURNAMENT LEADER BOARDS | ||||
The course plays on the town's railroad history, and many holes are, as they say in Scotland, "hard by the cinders," continuing a century's old tradition of golf bordering railways. We have also recreated the famous Road Hole green on our 16th Hole, which once sat adjacent to a railway. Another replicates the famous "Redan" from North Berwick, Scotland. Other holes have characteristics of early American holes, which also fronted railways at one time. The 12th hole for example, is similar to the fourth at the National Golf Links of America, one of our early classics. The ninth features a small platform green; typical of early American courses while the green on the par 5 fourth has some wild contours, seldom built these days.
Despite playing on these old-style characteristics, the course is thoroughly modern in other ways. The 10th is a long par 5 requiring negotiation of water on all three shots. The 18th is a long par 4 requiring a tee shot to a narrow fairway between flanking fairway bunkers. On the front nine, the long sixth may be the toughest hole.
The course also makes use of the site's best natural features, with holes 1, 2, 8 and 9 bordering Sand Creek itself. Great care was taken to utilize every existing tree to enhance golf holes strategy and character. Several ponds have been built to enhance aesthetics and a few influence play.
THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Wichita State, the field includes 14 other schools: Abilene Christian, Air Force, Denver, Drake, Hutch CC, LaSalle, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State, Rice, SIU-Edwardsville, Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
THE FORMAT:
Teams will play five golfers and count the four lowest scores per round.
THE SCHEDULE:
The teams will play 36 continuous holes on Monday, and one final round on Sunday. Both days will begin with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. ET.
THE RESULTS:
Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament via Golfstat.com. Complete results of each day's events will also be available following competition at SHUpirates.com.
| 2023 GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL - Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | TOTAL | PAR |
| 1 | Wichita State | 285 | 271 | 556 | -20 | |
| 2 | Rice | 285 | 276 | 561 | -15 | |
| 3 | UTRGV | 282 | 281 | 563 | -13 | |
| 4 | Abilene Christian | 286 | 280 | 566 | -10 | |
| T5 | SETON HALL | 285 | 282 | 567 | -9 | |
| T5 | Missouri State | 285 | 282 | 567 | -9 | |
| T7 | Hutchinson CC | 292 | 279 | 571 | -5 | |
| T7 | La Salle | 286 | 285 | 571 | -5 | |
| 9 | SIU Edwardsville | 291 | 281 | 572 | -4 | |
| 10 | UT Arlington | 291 | 282 | 573 | -3 | |
| T11 | Denver | 294 | 284 | 578 | +2 | |
| T11 | Drake | 292 | 286 | 578 | +2 | |
| 13 | Texas A&M Commerce | 293 | 289 | 582 | +6 | |
| 14 | Air Force | 294 | 291 | 585 | +9 | |
| 15 | Northern Iowa | 298 | 292 | 590 | +14 |
| 2023 GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL - Seton Hall Player Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | TOTAL | PAR |
| T1 | Wenliang Xie | 67 | 68 | 135 | -9 | |
| T21 | Patrick Kahanek | 72 | 70 | 142 | -2 | |
| T32 | Jack Bosworth | 72 | 72 | 144 | E | |
| T61 | George Fricker | 74 | 74 | 148 | +4 | |
| T61 | Wanxi Sun | 76 | 72 | 148 | +4 |
