Pirates Title Quest Begins Friday at Callawassie

CALLAWASSIE ISLAND, S.C. – The Seton Hall women's golf team will seek its fourth BIG EAST Championship in five years when it heads to beautiful Callawassie Island, N.C., April 20-22.

Senior Cassie Pantelas (Canton, Ohio) has registered top-5 finishes at the conference's marquee event the last two years, tying for the runner-up position in 2017. Despite the significant success experienced by the program in the eight years since its inception, no Pirate has won the individual BIG EAST title.

As a team, the Pirates have had a strong year, posting three titles in nine tournaments in 2017-18. The Hall boasts four of the top-seven Golfstat-ranked players in the conference, including freshman Mia Kness (Venetia, Pa.), who leads the team with a 75.09 and won the individual title of the Brown Bear Invitational to close the fall season.

Tournament Details:
2018 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: BIG EAST Conference
Location: Callawassie Island, S.C.
Course: Callawassie Island Golf Club (Dogwood & Magnolia)
Course Vitals: Par-72, 5,959 yards
Dates: April 20-22, 2017, Three Rounds

Championship Format:
Six team, 54-hole, stroke play Championship. Teams compete in groups of three. The event is conducted over four days with each team's five members playing a practice round of 18 holes on day one, one 18-hole round on days two, three and four.

The Course:
The club features three nine-hole courses. The competition will play the first nine holes on the Dogwood Course and the second nine on the Magnolia Course. Designing Callawassie Island's award-winning championship 27-hole course, Tom Fazio took advantage of the island's natural beauty to create a juxtaposition of visual drama and superb playability. Magnificent live oaks and magnolias, as well as freshwater ponds and the surrounding saltwater marsh, come into play on most holes. Inspiring vistas and abundant wildlife make nature part of the golf experience.

The Field:
For the BIG EAST Championship, the field is limited to only the six women's golf teams of the conference. This includes (in order of Golfstat ranking): Georgetown, Seton Hall, Xavier, Butler, St. John's and Creighton.

The Seton Hall Lineup:

Cassie Pantelas, Senior
Lizzie Win, Sophomore
Mia Kness, Freshman
Sammie Staudt, Sophomore
Maddie Sager, Sophomore

Last Year at Cassawassie:
Pantelas shot a 5-over-par, 77, in the final round to tie for second at the 2017 BIG EAST Championship. The Pirates finished in fifth place as a team.

Pantelas, the BIG EAST individual leader after the first and second rounds, had a front-nine that proved difficult from which to recover. The Pirate captain was 1-under-par through three holes, but double-bogeyed the fourth and ninth holes. Pantelas was fantastic on the back-nine, shooting even-par, including birdies on No. 11 and No. 17. For the tournament, she tied Georgetown's Lauren Gros at 6-over-par, four strokes behind the individual champion, Butler's Lauren Tibbets. Pantelas shot a 71-74-77-222.

As a team, for a second straight day the Pirates improved, albeit marginally. The Hall shot a 22-over-par, 310 on Sunday to finish fifth overall. The Pirates' final three-round score was a 72-over-par with a 315-311-310-936. Georgetown won their first-ever team championship at 32-over-par, after finishing second to the Pirates the last three years. Butler placed second at 41-over-par, while St. John's placed third at 60-over-par, and Xavier was fourth at 69-over-par.

Last Time Out:
Sophomore Maddie Sager (Phoenixville, Pa.) shot 9-over-par through two rounds at the 2018 Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational to lead the Seton Hall women's golf team to a 14th place team finish. Sunday's final round was canceled due to poor weather.

Sager shot the top Pirate score of the second round, a 6-over-par, 78. She finished tied for 40th place among 87 individual golfers with a 9-over-par, 75-78-153. Illinois' Grace Park and Kent State's Pimnipa Pathong won the individual title at 3-under-par.

Collectively, the Pirates finished at 47 strokes over par with a 309-314-623. They finished in 14th place in a highly competitive field that featured three teams in the Golfstat Top-20 rankings.

Tee Times:
Seton Hall will be paired with golfers from No. 1 Georgetown and No. 3 Xavier in Friday's first round. Sager will get the Pirates started at 8:50 a.m. off the first tee of the Dogwood course. Each Pirate will follow in increments of 10 minutes thereafter.

Results:
Golfstat.com will provide live scoring of the event. Complete results will also be available after each round's completion at www.SHUpirates.com.