Pirates Progressing - Looking Back at a Halted Season

One of the youngest teams in the BIG EAST Conference, the Seton Hall men's golf team took several strides in the right direction during the abbreviated 2019-20 year. Although the Coronavirus shut down the Pirates' season three tournaments short, there was plenty for head coach Clay White to show encouragement moving forward.

In the last two seasons, Seton Hall graduated three of the greatest golfers in program history. Lloyd Jefferson Go, Seton Hall's all-time leader in rounds and career stroke average, graduated in 2018, while both Gen Nagai and Chris Yeom, second and third respectively in both categories, graduated last spring. It would be natural to expect a significant regression. The Hall however, reloaded more than rebuilt, as several Pirates picked up the slack left by their former teammates.

Despite several highly-talented fields last year, the Pirates never finished worse than 10^th place in eight total tournaments. The Hall had three top-5 finishes during the year, and finished with an impressive 289.22 scoring average during the spring season.

The Hall had only two seniors on the roster, Alex Chalk (Castle Douglas, Scotland) and Alex McAuley (Douglas, Isle of Man). McAuley played in only two tournaments, but was impressive in his limited time. Competing as an individual, McAuley shot a 14-over-par at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial and followed it up with a 9-over-par performance at the Hartford Hawks Invitational. In the latter, McAuley shot a career-best 3-under-par, 69, in the final round.

Chalk was in the midst of a renaissance this spring. Before the season was halted, the senior was averaging a career-best 72.56 strokes per round in three tournaments. He also had three of his 12 career sub-par rounds this season alone, including a sub-par tournament, a 2-under-par, 70-70-74-214, at the Hartford Hawks Invitational.

If this is the end of the collegiate road for Chalk, he's certainly left his mark on the program. Our friend from "across the pond" participated in 32 career tournaments and 92 rounds, averaging an impressive 75.28 strokes per round over his four years, which ranks 14^th best in Seton Hall history.

Both juniors Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) and Andres Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas) continued their ascension as team leaders. Tait shot a career-best 74.43 through seven tournaments this year, including a 3-under-par, 70-69-74-213, at the Hartford Hawks Invitational in the fall. Tait also tied for fifth, his second career top-5 finish, at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial.

Acevedo was playing some of his best college golf this spring, averaging only 73.00 strokes per round. He was the top Pirate golfer at the first two tournaments this spring, firing a 2-over-par 71-72-75-218, at the UNCG/Martin Downs Collegiate, and a career-best 3-under-par, 71-71-71-213, at the Loyola Invitational. Acevedo had only four sub-par rounds entering this year, but recorded five as a junior alone.

Sophomores Peter Tyler Po (Nasipit Cebu City, Philippines) and Deven Ramachandran (San Rafael, Calif.) continued their progression as regular members of the lineup this year. Po finished with a 76.83 scoring average for the year, and collected his second career sub-par round. Ramachandran was slowed by a shoulder injury, but only managed to miss one tournament. Ramachandran finished with a 75.16 scoring average, three sub-par rounds, and a ninth-place finish at the Hamptons Intercollegiate this fall.

The biggest shot in the arm for the program this year was the emergence of Pirate newcomer Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China). The freshman led Seton Hall with eight sub-par rounds and a 73.63 scoring average for the year. Xie's scoring average is the second-lowest in Seton Hall history for a freshman and ranked seventh in the BIG EAST this year. In only his second collegiate tournament, Xie won the individual title of the Hartford Hawks Invitational with an exceptional 10-under-par, 70-67-69-206, the best tournament of the year for any Pirate.

Sophomores Hunter Ramee (Warren, Conn.) and Ian Lee (Johor, Malaysia), as well as freshman James Bosworth (Simsbury, Conn.), also saw action this year, and did a fine job of pushing the back of the lineup. All three have the potential to be regular contributors in the future.