Callawassie Island Host Men's Golf Championship
Men's Golf Championship Returns To Callawassie Island
CALLAWASSIE ISLAND, S.C. - The 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Golf Championship Presented by Jeep returns for a third straight year to the Callawassie Island Golf Club. The 54-hole tournament will be held May 1-3. One round of action will take place each day beginning at 8 a.m. ET. The Championship is free and open to the public. It will be played on the Dogwood and Magnolia Courses. Live stats will be available on GolfStat.com.
The team winner of the nine-team event will earn the BIG EAST’s automatic berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament field. Should the individual champion not be a member of the winning team, he will also earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field.
Marquette is the defending champion. Last year’s individual competition came down to a third playoff hole between Marquette’s Patrick Sanchez and St. John’s Dylan Crowley before Crowley prevailed and captured the automatic NCAA invitation. Sanchez returns for the Golden Eagles, while Crowley has graduated.
Xavier is the No. 1 seed going into this year’s Championship, according to GolfStat. The Musketeers have the two highest ranked players, sophomore Jose Montaño at No. 1 and freshman Daniel Wetterich at No. 2. Montaño goes into the Championship on a run of finishing in the top three of his last five tournaments. His stroke average is 72.29. Wetterich has posted three top-10 finishes in his last four events. His stroke average is 73.11. Last year, Xavier finished third at the Championship.
Marquette is the No. 2 ranked squad. The Golden Eagles have three players ranked among the top 11 in the GolfStat listings. Senior Nick Nelson is fourth followed by freshman Oliver Farrell in sixth and senior C.J. Swift in 11
th. Nelson finished 10
th in last year’s Championship.
Georgetown is the third seed. The Hoyas are led by freshman Harrison Rhoades, who is ranked seventh in the player rankings, followed by sophomores Cole Berman (9
th) and Sam Madsen (16
th). Rhoades has a 72.96 stroke average and five top-10 finishes. Last year, Madsen placed ninth in the Championship.
DePaul holds the fourth seed. The Blue Demons were runner-up in last year’s Championship, two strokes behind Marquette. This year, DePaul has two top 10 players. Sophomore Freddy Thomas is fifth and junior Jonathan Hewett is eighth. Thomas leads the team with a 74.00 stroke average. Last year, he finished in a three-way tie for third place at three-over-par 219.
One of the players who tied Thomas for third last year was Seton Hall’s Lloyd Jefferson Go. This year, Go is the league’s third-ranked player and is first in stroke average at 71.67. The junior has eight top-10 finishes this year. Seton Hall is the fifth seed.
Butler is seeded sixth. Junior Joey Arcuri enters this year’s Championship with four top-10 finishes in his last five tournaments. His stroke average is 75.00. The Bulldogs finished sixth last year.
St. John’s, Villanova and Creighton are seeded seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
The top player for St. John’s has been freshman Troy Evans, who leads the team with a 74.59 stroke average. Villanova’s top performer has been junior Lucas Trim, who is 15
th in the player rankings. He has two first-place finishes. Creighton junior Kade Brown is ranked 10
th in the player rankings. He has one win and five top 10 finishes.
Team Notes—
Butler -- Junior Joey Arcuri has been the lead Bulldog this spring with four top-10 finishes in his last five tournaments. He owns a 75.00 stroke average. In last year’s Championship, Arcuri tied for 12th place. The Bulldogs took sixth place.
Creighton – Junior Kade Brown has been the leader for the Bluejays. He has one win, five top-10 finishes, and is ranked 10th in the GolfStat player rankings. In his last tournament, Brown took second at the Bradley Invitational. Creighton tied St. John’s for seventh place in last year’s Championship.
DePaul -- Last year, the Blue Demons finished second by only two strokes to champion Marquette. Sophomore Freddy Thomas again has been the leader for the Blue Demons this year, sporting a 74.0 stroke average. Last year, he finished in a tie for third at the Championship, only three strokes off the pace. Thomas is fifth in the GolfStat player rankings heading into this year’s Championship.
Georgetown -- The trio of sophomores Cole Berman and Sam Madsen along with freshman Harrison Rhoades has keyed the Hoya success. Rhoades is seventh in the GolfStat player rankings going into the Championship and has five top-10 finishes. The Hoyas took fifth place in last year’s Championship led by Madsen’s ninth-place finish.
Marquette -- Senior Nick Nelson is ranked fourth and freshman Oliver Farrell is sixth in the GolfStat player rankings going into this year’s Championship. Nelson’s stroke average is 73.31 and Farrell’s is 73.00. Senior C.J. Swift is 11
th in the player rankings. Marquette is the defending BIG EAST team champion. Senior Patrick Sanchez tied for first in last year’s Championship with a one-under-par 215.
St. John’s -- Freshman Troy Evans has made a solid first impression with the Red Storm, leading the team with a 74.59 stroke average. He has placed third in his last two tournaments. St. John’s has had the individual BIG EAST champion in each of the past two seasons. Last year, senior Dylan Crowley shot a one-under-par 215 and defeated Marquette’s Patrick Sanchez on the third hole of a playoff.
Seton Hall -- Junior Lloyd Jefferson Go has continued to be the anchor for the Pirate success. He enters this year’s Championship ranked third in the GolfStat player rankings. Go has a league-leading 71.67 stroke average and eight top-10 finishes this year. He tied for third in last year’s Championship with a three-over-par 219. Returning senior Ryan Snouffer finished eighth.
Villanova – Junior Lucas Trim has recorded two first-place finishes this year and leads the Wildcats with a 74.80 stroke average. He is 15th in the GolfStat player rankings. Senior Luke Waggoner has posted two top-10 finishes in his last three events.
Xavier -- Sophomore Jose Montaño has finished in the top three in each of his last five tournaments. His stroke average is 72.29. Freshman Daniel Wetterich has offered strong support with three top-10 finishes in his last four tournaments. His stroke average is 73.11. Montaño finished seventh in last year’s Championship with a five-over-par 221.