Pirates Begin Quest for BIG EAST Championship Sunday

Sunday, April 30

Okatie, S.C.

All Day

Seton Hall University

First Round

Luke Nolan Named BIG EAST Co-Golfer of the Week

Friday, November 07

Seton Hall men's golf team poses after winning the Metropolitan Championship on Oct. 28, 2025

Nolan, Pirates Win Titles at Metropolitan Championship

Tuesday, October 28

Fall Season Closes as Pirates Tie for 10th at FAU

Tuesday, October 28

Shah, Lally Impress in FAU Invitational Round 1

Monday, October 27

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First Round

Apr 30 (Sun)

All Day

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Full Schedule

Pirates Begin Quest for BIG EAST Championship Sunday

4/29/2017 1:38:00 PM | Men's Golf

HOME SCORES

CALLAWASSIE ISLAND, S.C. - The Seton Hall men's golf team will return to action this weekend when it begins play at the 2017 BIG EAST Championship at Callawassie Island Golf Club, April 30-May 2.

The Pirates have one of their best teams in years entering the conference's marquee event, and they've earned the BIG EAST's No. 2 seed based on Golfstat ranking. Seton Hall has averaged 289.68 strokes per tournament this year, the lowest in program history. In 10 tournaments, the Pirates have registered five top-5 finishes, including a victory at the always competitive Princeton Invitational earlier this spring.

In addition to the Pirates consistent play all year, several Seton Hall records have fallen. In the first tournament of the year, the Pirates finished second at The Doc Gimmer with a 10-under-par, 830. Their total score shattered the previous three-round, par-70 record by 26 strokes. Additionally, the 265 shot in the second round is the lowest single-round of any par in school history.

The following week, Seton Hall shot an 11-under-par, 565, at the Hartford Hawks Invitational. The effort broke the program's two-round, par-72 record by seven strokes. Furthermore, the Pirates' 11-under-par broke the record for the most strokes under par for a tournament of any par.

This spring, The Hall shot a 7-under-par, 857, at the Loyola Invitational in Arizona, edging their three-round, par-72 record by one stroke.

The catalyst for the Pirates' team success this year has unquestionably been senior Lloyd Jefferson Go (Guadalupe Cebu City, Philippines). Arguably the greatest golfer in Seton Hall history, Go enters his fourth and final BIG EAST Championship with an opportunity to become the Pirates only two-time individual winner. Last spring, Go won Seton Hall's third individual BIG EAST title by three strokes with a 6-under-par, 70-65-75-210. He was also named 2016 BIG EAST Golfer of the Year.

Go enters this weekend's event as the No. 2 ranked BIG EAST individual golfer.

Ranked No. 6 and No. 12 respectively in the conference are super-sophomores Gen Nagai (Mandaue Cebu City, Philippines) and Chris Yeom (Flushing, N.Y.). Nagai averaged 72.39 strokes per round for the year, a nearly three-stroke improvement from his freshman year. He was named Seton Hall Male Student-Athlete of the Year and had four sub-par tournaments, including a career-best 4-under-par at the Hartford Hawks Invitational. Yeom also improved nearly three full strokes on his scoring average and logged three, top-10 finishes including a 2-under-par, seventh-place effort at The Doc Gimmler.

Go, Nagai and Yeom all played in last year's championship. Joining them in 2017 are newcomers Alex Chalk (Castle Douglas, Scotland) and Linus Yip (Sydney, Australia).

Chalk has been a revelation for the Pirates in his first year. The freshman averaged just 74.11 strokes per round and collected six sub-par rounds in 2016-17. Chalk shot a career-best 4-under-par at the Hartford Hawks Invitational.

Yip, a junior transfer from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, averaged just over 75 strokes per round and totaled three sub-par rounds this year.

The Pirates have won two team BIG EAST titles in program history, but none since 2000.

Tournament Details:
2017 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: BIG EAST Conference
Location: Okatie, S.C.
Course: Callawassie Island Golf Club (Dogwood & Magnolia Courses)
Course Vitals: Par-72, 6,983 yards
Dates: April 30 – May 2, 2017

Championship Format:
Nine 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 nine men's golf teams of the conference. This includes (in order of Golfstat ranking): Marquette, Seton Hall, defending champion Georgetown, DePaul, Butler, Villanova, St. John's, Xavier and Creighton.

The Seton Hall Lineup:

Lloyd Jefferson Go, Senior
Gen Nagai, Sophomore
Chris Yeom, Sophomore
Alex Chalk, Freshman
Linus Yip, Junior

Last Time Out:
Go tied the Penn State course record with a 7-under-par, 64, in the final round of the Rutherford Intercollegiate to lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to a fourth place team finish last week.

Go vaulted up the individual scoreboard, shooting 11 strokes better in round three. He began the day tied for 34th place, but ended up finishing third for his team-best sixth top-5 finish of the year. For the three-round event, he finished at even-par with a 74-75-64-213.

As a team, the Pirates shot the best third round score in the field, an even-par, 284. Seton Hall tied for fourth with Eastern Michigan with a 27-over-par, 304-291-284-879, despite entering the day in 10th place. Penn State and Georgetown were named co-champions at 16-over-par. One other BIG EAST competitor, Xavier, finished at 53-over-par.

Last Time at the BIG EAST Championship:
Go became the third BIG EAST individual champion in Seton Hall history, using a 3-over-par, 75, in Tuesday's final round to win the tournament by three strokes. For the three-round event, he shot a 6-under-par, 70-65-75-210, finishing three strokes head of Georgetown's Sam Madison. Go's historic tournament was fueled by a record-breaking second round. The junior fired a Callawassie Island course-record, 7-under-par, 65, that began on Monday and ended on Tuesday after lightning suspended play. Additionally, Go's 7-under-par, 65, is the lowest single-round ever shot by a Seton Hall golfer at the BIG EAST Championship, and the second-lowest for a golfer from any school in the history of the conference tournament.

Collectively, Seton Hall shot a 14-over-par, 302, in Tuesday's final round to tie with Butler for sixth place in the final team standings. For the three-round event, the Pirate shot a 37-over-par, 305-294-302-901. Georgetown dominated the BIG EAST field, winning the team championship by 27 strokes over second place Xavier. DePaul finished third, just five strokes ahead of The Hall.

Results:
Complete results will be available after each round's completion at www.SHUpirates.com. Live scoring is available via Golfstat.com.