WGolf Set to Defend its Title at BIG EAST
Pirates will play three rounds at LPGA International in Daytona Beach to determine this year's champion.
Ali Kruse is Seton Hall's top seed.
April 15, 2015
DAYTONA BEACH, FL. -- The Seton Hall women's golf team will attempt to defend its BIG EAST Championship starting Thursday at LPGA International.
The competition, which begins Thursday, is scheduled for 54 holes over three days. The BIG EAST will crown a team champion, which earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The competition is scheduled to begin each day at 8 a.m. ET.
Thursday's threesomes will be determined by team and player seedings while Friday's and Saturday's groupings are assembled from the previous day's leaderboard.
Seton Hall led to wire-to-wire last year and won with a team score of 928, which was seven strokes ahead of Georgetown with a score of 935. Third-place St. John's and fourth-place Xavier were close with team scores of 937 and 939. Four of Seton Hall's five starters from a year ago return, with only Hannah Basalone graduating.
This year, the Pirates are the top team seed going into the Championship followed by Xavier, Georgetown, Butler, Creighton and St. John's.
"As a young program, it seems every year we are experiencing something new for the first time," said Seton Hall head coach Sara Doell. "As defending champions, we've gone from the hunters to the hunted, which is something we haven't experienced before."
In addition to eight of the top 10 finishers back from last year, five golfers who tied for second place with a score of 229, all return. Seton Hall had two of the five, Erin McClure (Tucson, Ariz.) and Megan Tenhundfeld (Loveland, Ohio). The others were Jenna Peters of Butler, Mackenzie Boydston of Georgetown and Anna Kim of St. John's. The other top 10 finishers were Georgetown's Patricia Lee (8th-231), Seton Hall's Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.) (9th-232) and Georgetown's Jenny Xiao (10th-234).
For this year's Championship, the top five individual seeds, in order, are Kim of St. John's, Shane Crutchfield of Xavier, Peters of Butler, Kruse of Seton Hall and Hanna Lee of Xavier.
Freshman Cassie Pantelas (Canton, Ohio) and junior Karlie Zabrosky (Erie, Pa.) will round out the Pirates' lineup this week. Zabrosky tied for 19th place with an 83-82-81-246 at last year's championship. Pantelas is making her BIG EAST Championship debut.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing Cassie play in her first BIG EAST Championship and to see two historically great players in our program, Ali and Erin, play in their last," Doell said. We've had a very successful year, and all of the practice and hard work has led up to this. I'm very confident that any one of our five starters could take home some hardware."
Golfers will find challenges at every turn on the signature Arthur Hills Course. The par-72 layout is a classic at 6,984 yards. Hills used a superb natural setting to create a masterpiece in playability and variety. It features natural wetlands, narrow pine corridors, small greens and strategically placed water hazards. The Hills Course calls for the player to use mind over muscles. Good strategic planning rewards the player with good results and an enjoyable round. Each hole is unique and memorable. The Hills Course, played from the proper tees, poses an appropriate challenge to more accomplished players and fairness to high handicappers, seniors, women and junior golfers.
The Pirates are coming off a sixth place team finish at their own Pirate Invitational two weeks ago. McClure shot a 3-over-par, 75, in Friday's final round to lead the team with a 15th place tie. McClure shaved four strokes off her first round score to finish with a 10-over-par, 79-75-154.
Collectively, the Pirates shot nine strokes better in round two than they did on Thursday, but the rest of the field played much better as well, and thus, The Hall actually fell two spots to a sixth place finish. They end the two-day event at 51-over-par with a 318-309-627. Two other BIG EAST schools were in the field. Georgetown finished one stroke better than the Pirates, while St. John's finished four strokes worse.
Complete results will be available following each round at SHUpirates.com and Golfstat.com.
http://www.shupirates.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/041515aaa.html
Pirates will play three rounds at LPGA International in Daytona Beach to determine this year's champion.
Ali Kruse is Seton Hall's top seed.
April 15, 2015
DAYTONA BEACH, FL. -- The Seton Hall women's golf team will attempt to defend its BIG EAST Championship starting Thursday at LPGA International.
The competition, which begins Thursday, is scheduled for 54 holes over three days. The BIG EAST will crown a team champion, which earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The competition is scheduled to begin each day at 8 a.m. ET.
Thursday's threesomes will be determined by team and player seedings while Friday's and Saturday's groupings are assembled from the previous day's leaderboard.
Seton Hall led to wire-to-wire last year and won with a team score of 928, which was seven strokes ahead of Georgetown with a score of 935. Third-place St. John's and fourth-place Xavier were close with team scores of 937 and 939. Four of Seton Hall's five starters from a year ago return, with only Hannah Basalone graduating.
This year, the Pirates are the top team seed going into the Championship followed by Xavier, Georgetown, Butler, Creighton and St. John's.
"As a young program, it seems every year we are experiencing something new for the first time," said Seton Hall head coach Sara Doell. "As defending champions, we've gone from the hunters to the hunted, which is something we haven't experienced before."
In addition to eight of the top 10 finishers back from last year, five golfers who tied for second place with a score of 229, all return. Seton Hall had two of the five, Erin McClure (Tucson, Ariz.) and Megan Tenhundfeld (Loveland, Ohio). The others were Jenna Peters of Butler, Mackenzie Boydston of Georgetown and Anna Kim of St. John's. The other top 10 finishers were Georgetown's Patricia Lee (8th-231), Seton Hall's Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.) (9th-232) and Georgetown's Jenny Xiao (10th-234).
For this year's Championship, the top five individual seeds, in order, are Kim of St. John's, Shane Crutchfield of Xavier, Peters of Butler, Kruse of Seton Hall and Hanna Lee of Xavier.
Freshman Cassie Pantelas (Canton, Ohio) and junior Karlie Zabrosky (Erie, Pa.) will round out the Pirates' lineup this week. Zabrosky tied for 19th place with an 83-82-81-246 at last year's championship. Pantelas is making her BIG EAST Championship debut.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing Cassie play in her first BIG EAST Championship and to see two historically great players in our program, Ali and Erin, play in their last," Doell said. We've had a very successful year, and all of the practice and hard work has led up to this. I'm very confident that any one of our five starters could take home some hardware."
Golfers will find challenges at every turn on the signature Arthur Hills Course. The par-72 layout is a classic at 6,984 yards. Hills used a superb natural setting to create a masterpiece in playability and variety. It features natural wetlands, narrow pine corridors, small greens and strategically placed water hazards. The Hills Course calls for the player to use mind over muscles. Good strategic planning rewards the player with good results and an enjoyable round. Each hole is unique and memorable. The Hills Course, played from the proper tees, poses an appropriate challenge to more accomplished players and fairness to high handicappers, seniors, women and junior golfers.
The Pirates are coming off a sixth place team finish at their own Pirate Invitational two weeks ago. McClure shot a 3-over-par, 75, in Friday's final round to lead the team with a 15th place tie. McClure shaved four strokes off her first round score to finish with a 10-over-par, 79-75-154.
Collectively, the Pirates shot nine strokes better in round two than they did on Thursday, but the rest of the field played much better as well, and thus, The Hall actually fell two spots to a sixth place finish. They end the two-day event at 51-over-par with a 318-309-627. Two other BIG EAST schools were in the field. Georgetown finished one stroke better than the Pirates, while St. John's finished four strokes worse.
Complete results will be available following each round at SHUpirates.com and Golfstat.com.
http://www.shupirates.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/041515aaa.html
