Seton Hall Won The 2015 BIG EAST Title
Seton Hall Looks To Three-Peat In Women's Golf
SETON HALL LOOKS TO THREE-PEAT WOMEN’S GOLF CROWN
CALLAWASSIE ISLAND, S.C. – The BIG EAST Women’s Golf Championship Presented by the Jeep Brand is coming to the Callawassie Island Golf Club for the first time on April 22-24, but Seton Hall is hoping for the same result as the previous two years when the Pirates emerged as conference champions. The competition for the BIG EAST Women’s Golf Championship is expected to have its customary intensity and rivalry.
The Championship, which begins Friday, 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. All rounds of the Championships, which will be played on the Dogwood and Magnolia Courses, are free and open to the public. The following week, the BIG EAST Men’s Golf Championship also will be held at Callawassie Island May 1-3.
Friday’s threesomes will be determined by team and player seedings while Saturday’s and Sunday’s groupings are assembled from the previous day’s leaderboard. Six BIG EAST schools participate in women’s golf – Butler, Creighton, Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Xavier.
Last year, Seton Hall edged Georgetown by one stroke for the league crown with a team score of 914, which was 14 strokes better than its 2014 championship run. Georgetown returns Jacquelyn Eleey, the BIG EAST individual champion from last year, and teammate Patricia Lee, who placed third, four strokes back at 227.
Third-place Xavier was only seven strokes behind Seton Hall last year with a team score of 921. Hanna Lee tied for fourth in last year’s tournament at 228 and Shane Crutchfield tied for ninth at 231. Both are back for 2016. The Musketeers’ team total would have won the 2014 championship.
This year, Georgetown holds the top team seed, according to Golfstat, going into the Championship followed by Xavier, Butler, Seton Hall, Creighton and St. John’s.
The two other top 10 finishers returning from last year are Anna Kim of St. John’s and Megan Tenhundfeld of Seton Hall who both tied for seventh at 230, 14-under-par. Coincidentally, both players tied for second two years ago.
For this year’s Championship, the top five individual seeds, according to Golfstat, are Kim of St. John’s, Eleey of Georgetown, Hanna Lee of Xavier, Shane Crutchfield of Xavier and Christina Parsells of Georgetown.
The BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) will provide coverage of the final rounds on
www.bigeast.com. Additional information on the championship courses is available at
www.callawassieisland.com.
BIG EAST Team Notes
BUTLER
The Bulldogs have tasted victory this spring with a team win at the Benbow Invitational and individual wins by freshman Lauren Tibbets and sophomore Kasey McDougall. Tibbets leads the team with a 78.0 stroke average.
CREIGHTON
Junior Kelsey Petersen has been the most consistent performer for the Bluejays with five rounds of 74 or better. She owns a 78.6 stroke average and has four finishes of 12th or better. Sophomore Sarah Eversman ranks second on the squad with a 79.7 stroke average.
GEORGETOWN
The Hoyas have been the BIG EAST runners-up to Seton Hall in each of the last two tournaments. This year, Georgetown appears to have another potent and experienced squad with senior Mackenzie Boydston and sophomore Jacquelyn Eleery, who was the BIG EAST individual champion last year. Senior Patricia Lee took third last year. In 2014, Boydston tied for second individually.
ST. JOHN’S
Anna Kim has been the team leader for Red Storm, winning three times this season and recording five top-five finishes. She won the Hoya Invitational by 10 strokes to close out the team’s tournament schedule. In last year’s BIG EAST Championship, she tied for seventh with a three-round score of 230. Two years ago, Kim tied for second with a 229.
SETON HALL
The Pirates are the two-time defending BIG EAST champions, holding off Georgetown both times for the title. Last year’s margin of victory was only one stroke. This spring, senior Megan Tenhundfeld is the Pirate leader with a 77.52 stroke average. She finished tied for seventh in last year’s championship. Sophomore Cassie Pantelas was 11th.
XAVIER
The Musketeers moved up last year with a third-place finish and will look to climb higher behind sophomore Hanna Lee and senior Shane Crutchfield. Last year, Lee finished tied for fourth in the championship and Crutchfield was tied for ninth. This spring, Lee is first on the squad with a 76.08 stroke average followed by Crutchfield at 76.33.