Marquette junior Johan Widal has been named BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week for the first men’s golf weekly honors of the spring. He was a key factor in Marquette winning the BIG EAST Match Play Tournament. 

BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week

Johan Widal, Marquette, Jr.

Widal was one of three MU golfers to win all three of his matches that helped Marquette win the BIG EAST Match Play title. Playing in the No. 3 position, he did not reach the 17^th hole in any of his matchups. Widal had posted a 72.27 scoring average in the fall season. 

Men’s Notes -- Seven conference teams competed in the BIG EAST Match Play held at Bear Lake Country Club on Feb. 3-4. 

Marquette defeated event-host UConn 5-2 in the final round to take the championship. In their path to the title, the Golden Eagles defeated Villanova 6-1 and Butler 5-2 to advance to the final. In addition to Johan Widal’s unbeaten record, sophomore Ryan Banas and freshman Vinny Cervantes also did not lose any of their matchups. In his final, Widal defeated UConn’s Bradley Sawka 4&2. 

UConn was 2-1 in the event with an overall record of 15-6-0. The Huskies defeated Creighton 6-1 before beating Xavier 4-3. Junior Connor Goode, sophomores Bradley Sawka and Alex Heard and freshman Matt Costello all finished 2-1-0. 

Creighton freshman Henry Kuehne compiled a 3-0 record and wins by 3&1, 6&5 and 5&4. He was one of four golfers to win all three matches and the only one who did not have to play holes 16, 17 and 18. 

Butler’s Luke Kruger posted a 2-0-1 record. He won individual matches against Frank Wu of St. John’s and Marquette’s Mason Schmidtke and halved a match against Xavier’s Kyle Smith. 

Seton Hall competed in the Vaqueros Intercollegiate in Plays del Carmen in Mexico. Senior Patrick Kahanek tied for 26^th place in a field of 90 golfers. He shot a 9-over 225 (76-72-77). As a team, the Pirates shot a 22-over 310 in round three. The team finished in 12^th place with a 49-over 913 (304-299-310). SMU won the team title.