NEW YORK – Marquette freshman Hunter Eichhorn has been named BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Freshman in men’s golf by a vote of the conference’s head coaches. Marquette also won BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors. In the balloting, the coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Eichhorn, a native of Carney, Mich., won the BIG EAST Championship with a two-under-par 214 at Callawassie Island, S.C. The top-seeded player going into the Championship with a 71.81 stroke average, Eichhorn shot a 69 in the first round and never trailed. He is the first player in the BIG EAST’s current 10-school alignment to win men’s golf Player and Freshman of the Year honors in the same year. Eichhorn was the second straight Marquette freshman to capture medalist honors at the BIG EAST Championship. Matt Bachmann won in 2017, also at Callawassie.
As the BIG EAST individual champion, Eichhorn earned an automatic spot to the NCAA Championship. He competed in the NCAA Bryan Regional and finished in a tie for 25th place with a three-over-par 219 (74-71-74).
During his freshman season, Eichhorn posted three top-five finishes in nine starts. He won the Price’s Give ‘Em Five Invitational in El Paso, Texas, in October. For the year, he carded seven sub-70 rounds.
The Marquette coaching staff is led by Steve Bailey, who is in his eighth year as head coach. This year, Bailey’s squad finished second in the BIG EAST Championship with a roster that included only one senior. The Golden Eagles have won two of the last four BIG EAST titles. Trake Carpenter is the assistant coach to Bailey, who also won BIG EAST coaching honors in 2015 and 2017.