Fort Myers, Fla. – Xavier will be the defending team champion when the BIG EAST Women’s Golf Championship Presented by JEEP is played at the Club at Gateway in Ft. Myers, Fla.  The Championship, which will be held April 23-25, is scheduled for 54 holes over three days.
 
The BIG EAST will crown a team champion, which earns an automatic berth to the 2021 NCAA Championship.  The individual champion also receives an NCAA Championship invitation.  The BIG EAST competition is scheduled to begin each day at 8 a.m. ET.  Immediately following the women’s championship on Sunday, the BIG EAST Men’s Golf Championship Presented by JEEP will be held at Streamsong in Bowling Green, Fla., April 26-28. 
 
At the women’s tournament, Friday’s first-round 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.      
 
Xavier has four players ranked among the top 10 in the GolfStat rankings.  Freshman Emma McMyler is first with an average score of 73.50.  She has finished in the top 10 three times in five tournaments this spring, including a pair of third-place finishes.  Graduate student Mikayla Fitzpatrick is the returning BIG EAST Championship medalist after winning the 2019 competition by nine strokes with an even-par 216.  This spring, her stroke average is 76.00. 
 
The Championship may be a little harder to predict since schools played lighter schedules due to COVID precautions.
 
St. John’s has freshman Angelica Kusnowo, who is ranked second among the league players by GolfStat.  She has three top-five finishes in five events this spring and has a 75.00 average score.  Graduate student Linda Wang has plenty of BIG EAST Championship experience.  She tied for seventh place in 2018 and tied for 13th in 2019.
 
Seton Hall’s Lizzie Win was the individual runner-up in 2019 and has two other top-10 Championship finishes in her career.  The graduate student is a three-time All-BIG EAST selection.  Teammate Maddie Sager, also a graduate student, tied for fourth place at the 2019 Championship when the Pirates were the team runner-up.  The Pirates only competed in three tournaments this spring, but have been a traditional contender.  Senior Mia Kness tied for fourth place in 2018.
 
Georgetown, another customary contender, will participate in the Championship despite not playing in any events in the spring season.  The Hoyas have finished first or second in each of the past six years, taking the conference crown in 2018 and 2017.  Elizabeth Nguyen is the only returning Hoya who scored in the 2019 Championship, tying for 13th place.
 
Butler has received contributions from a number of players this spring.  Junior Claire Edwards and senior Ally Ross have been the leaders.  Edwards has a pair of top-five finishes and Ross has been among the top six in four of five tournaments this spring.  Edwards has an average score of 76.17 while Ross is at 76.25.
 
Creighton’s leaders have been freshman Gabby Tremblay and sophomore Katie Allen.  Tremblay leads the Bluejays with a 79.58 stroke average and has paced the team in three of this spring’s four tournaments.  Allen, whose 10th-place finish in last year’s championship was the best among all freshman in the league, is second on the team this spring with an 80.25 average. 
 
ADDITIONAL TEAM NOTES
 
BUTLER
The Bulldogs won the Lady Jaguar Invitational and enjoyed three other top-five finishes in five tournaments played this spring.
 
CREIGHTON
The Bluejays, who have five freshmen on their roster, had their best finish at the Missouri State Invitational with a second-place finish. 
 
GEORGETOWN
The Hoyas were BIG EAST champions in 2017 and 2018, before finishing second in 2019.  They also placed second in 2014, 2015 and 2016.      
 
ST. JOHN’S
The Red Storm won three events this spring – Pinehurst Intercollegiate, FDU Shootout and the Monmouth Spring Series.
SETON HALL
The Pirates’ top finish was third place in the Jan Weaver Invitational hosted by Murray State.  The Hall finished a close third in the 2019 Championship.  The Pirates won the BIG EAST title for three straight years (2014-16). 
 
XAVIER
In addition to Emma McMyler and Mikayla Fitzpatrick, the Musketeers can count on junior Abby Kiefer, who has averaged 76.64 strokes, and senior Morgan Tinsley, who owns a 77.86 average score.  Senior Andie Shukow has a 76.33 average this year.  She tied for eighth in the 2019 Championship.