Pirates Head to Arizona for Loyola Intercollegiate

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. - The Seton Hall men's golf team will return to action this weekend with three rounds of golf at the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Course, February 23-25.

Tournament Details:
LOYOLA INTERCOLLEGIATE
Host: Loyola University
Location: Goodyear, Ariz.
Course: Palm Valley Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,015 yards
Dates: February 23-25, 2019

The Course:
Designed by renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills, Palm Valley Golf Club's Palms Course is one of the most popular championship Phoenix Arizona golf courses. The excellent layout provides a stiff challenge for accomplished players, yet it is flexible enough for novices to enjoy. One asset that sets Palm Valley Golf Club apart from other Phoenix Arizona golf courses is its diversity in play. The Palms Course has been rated among Arizona's best public golf courses by The Phoenix Business Journal, and the 18th hole is routinely cited by avid players as one of the best par-5s in the state.

The Field:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Loyola, the large field features 18 other teams including: Air Force (2), Army West Point, Connecticut (2), Elon, Gonzaga, Hartford, Missouri State, Murray State, SIU-Edwardsville, South Dakota, Tennessee-Martin, Towson, and UAB (2). Additionally, BIG EAST opponents DePaul and Xavier are also in the field.

The Seton Hall Lineup:

Andres Acevedo, Sophomore
Gen Nagai, Senior
Gregor Tait, Sophomore
Deven Ramachandran, Freshman
Peter Tyler Po, Freshman

Individual – Alex Chalk, Junior

Last Time Out:
Senior Chris Yeom (Flushing, N.Y.) and sophomore Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) each fired an even-par, 72, in Tuesday's final round to lift the Pirates to a 10th place finish at the 2019 UNCG / Martin Downs Collegiate.

Yeom birdied hole No. 16 and eagled No. 17 in route to his best round of the tournament. He finished the three-round event as the top Pirate performer, tied for 28th place among 92 individual golfers. Yeom shot a 4-over-par, 74-74-72-220. UNCG's Nick Lyerly won the individual title at 9-under-par.

For a second straight day, the Pirates improved as a team. The Hall fired a 5-over-par, 293, on Tuesday, shaving two strokes off yesterday's score. For the three-day event, Seton Hall placed 10th with a 34-over-par, 310-295-293-898. Host UNCG ran away with the team title, finishing at 14-under-par. Villanova, Seton Hall's lone BIG EAST competition in the field, finished 12th, a distant 19 strokes behind the Pirates.

Last Year at the Loyola Invitational:
Yeom and Linus Yip spearheaded an assault on the Pirate record books at the Rio Verde Intercollegiate last spring. A day after shooting par or better on all 36 holes, Yeom completed his historic tournament with a 4-under-par, 68. He registered six birdies on the afternoon, and two bogeys, his only two of the entire tournament. For the event, Yeom placed sixth with a Seton Hall record-breaking 13-under-par, 66-69-68-203. His 203 broke Lloyd Jefferson Go's par-72, three-round score of 205 set the prior spring at the same event. Furthermore, Yeom's 13-under-par score tied former Pirate Kyle Morris for the most strokes under for any par in a single tournament.

Gen Nagai (Mandaue Cebu City, Philippines) also put in a career-best effort for the tournament. Nagai ended up tying for 15th place among 107 individual golfers with a career-low 8-under-par, 68-71-69-208.

With so many individual standout performances, naturally several team records fell at the Loyola Intercollegiate as well. Only 24 hours after the Pirates set a new team record for the lowest par-72 single-round score with a first round, 277, they did it again with a 15-under-par, 273.

Seton Hall finished the tournament in seventh place at an astonishing 24 strokes under par with a 277-290-273-840. The result shattered Seton Hall's previous records for most strokes under par for a single tournament (11) and lowest par-72 three-round score (857).

Tee Times:
Seton Hall will begin round one with tee times beginning at 12:45 pm ET off the 10^th tee. The Pirates will be paired with golfers from Loyola, Gonzaga and Air Force.

Results:
Live scoring of the event will be available through Golfstat. Complete results of each day's events will also be available following competition at SHUpirates.com.