CHAMPS!! Tait's Record Round Powers Pirates to BIG EAST Title

Wednesday, April 27

Pine Mountain, Ga. / Callaway Resort and Gardens

All Day

Seton Hall University

Third Round

CHAMPS!! Tait's Record Round Powers Pirates to BIG EAST Title

4/27/2022 9:38:00 PM | Men's Golf

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Gregor Tait tied a program-record with a 65 in round three to take home the co-individual title.

PINE MOUNTAIN, GA. – Graduate student Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) fired a remarkable 7-under-par, 65, to lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to its first BIG EAST Championship in 22 years. Tait's effort earned him a share of the BIG EAST individual crown.

The three-stroke victory for Seton Hall gives it an automatic berth to an NCAA Regional. The Pirates will find out where of six possible host sites it will play on Wednesday, May 4 at 4:00 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Competition dates are set for May 15-18.

Tait started the day six strokes behind UConn's Caleb Manuel, but put together one of the finest rounds in Seton Hall history to catch the Husky and become the Pirates' fourth BIG EAST champion. He started his round with four straight birdies and added a fifth on the eighth hole, entering the turn at 4-under-par. He was still four-under through 15 holes before taking his game to another level when the Pirates needed him most. Tait eagled the par-5, 16^th hole, parred 17 and birdied 18 with a lengthy putt that caused the Pirate faithful in attendance to roar.

Gregor Tait

The result?... a 7-under-par, 65, which ties Seton Hall's single-round par-72 record. For the tournament, Tait claimed the co-championship, with Manuel, with an 11-under-par, 70-70-65-205. His 205 is the second-lowest three-round par-72 total in Seton Hall history and shatters the program's record for a BIG EAST Tournament, which was 210 set by another former champion Lloyd Jefferson Go in 2016.

As a team, the Pirates entered the day just one stroke behind a duo of team leaders, Marquette and Connecticut. While UConn faded, Marquette and The Hall slugged it out back-and-forth until the Pirates took control late. Seton Hall finished with a 10-under-par, 278, in round three to win the tournament by three strokes over Marquette. The Hall's 278 is the lowest single-round in Pirate history at the BIG EAST Championship and the third-lowest par-72 round for any tournament.

The Pirates finished the three-day event with a 15-under-par, 288-283-278-849. Marquette finished at 12-under-par, and Connecticut at 4-under-par. The Hall's 849 is the second-lowest three-round par-72 score in program history.

Andres Acevedo (San Antonio, Texas) came up clutch in what would have been his final collegiate round as well. The graduate student had four birdies and 12 pars on the day and was 3-under-par without blemish over his final eight holes. Acevedo shot a 2-under-par, 70, improving by two strokes each day of the tournament.

For the three-day event, he tied for 10^th place with an even-par, 74-72-70-216. It's his six career Top-10 finish.

Angus O'Brien (Barwon Heads, Australia) and Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) narrowly missed out on being a part of the All-Tournament Team, which consists of the Top-5 finishers. Both tied for sixth at 2-under-par.

O'Brien, playing in his first career BIG EAST Championship, again proved he's ready for the big stage. The freshman collected five birdies and was 2-under-par on the back nine in route to a 2-under-par, 70, for round three. O'Brien finished the tournament at 2-under-par with a 71-73-70-214. It's already his third career sub-par tournament and his fifth Top-10 finish.

Xie was perfect on his front nine, shooting 1-under-par at the turn on Wednesday. Although he had three bogeys on the back nine, he parred holes 17 and 18 to finish strong. For the round, Xie was 1-over-par with a 73. For the tournament, he was 2-under-par with an impressive 73-68-73-214. It's Xie's fourth sub-par tournament and sixth Top-10 finish this year alone.

Sophomore Wanxi Sun (Danville, Calif.) struggled on the front nine, but didn't fold and was 1-under-par on the back nine. He also had an eagle on the par-5, 16^th hole and pars on both 17 and 18. Sun shot an 8-over-par, 80, on Wednesday.

One of the more difficult holes for the field during the tournament was the par-3, 14^th hole. Collectively, The Hall was 2-over-par on Monday on 14, 4-over-par on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, all five Pirates parred the troublesome par-3.

Tournament Details:
2022 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: BIG EAST Conference
Location: Pine Mountain, Ga.
Resort: Callaway Resort and Gardens
Course: Mountain View
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,057 yards
Dates: April 25-27, 2022

TOURNAMENT LEADER BOARDS

Team Leaders

Player Leaders

Combo Listing

Statistical Leaders

Twitter

GREGOR. TAIT. FOR BIRDIE ON 18.

He completes a 7-under 65 and takes the individual lead at 11. @SHUMGolf is up three. pic.twitter.com/hdFrVh48s7
— BIG EAST Olympic Sports (@BIGEASTchamps) April 27, 2022

HUGE EAGLE ON 16 BY GREGOR TAIT!!!#HALLin pic.twitter.com/qTdpSH0zb3
— Seton Hall Men's Golf (@SHUMGolf) April 27, 2022

THE COURSE
Callaway Resort & Gardens' golf pedigree stretches back more than six decades to 1949, when architect J.B. McGovern, with considerable input from Cason Callaway, designed the first nine holes of the Lake View Course. Completed and opened in 1951, Lake View perfectly captured Mr. Callaway's vision that "playing golf should be a pleasant experience in beautiful surroundings."

The Callaways understood the beauty and importance of golf. Mr. Callaway was on the founding Board of Trustees of the Georgia State Golf Association. Almost from the beginning, the Gardens served as a competition venue, with Jack Key of Columbus, Ga. winning Callaway's first-ever tournament, the 1951 Men's One-day Golf Tourney.

This challenging, but playable layout on the Mountain View course will test your strategic and shot-making abilities, just as it did for PGA Tour pros when it hosted the Buick Challenge from 1991 to 2002. The list of winners is a who's-who of Tour stars, with champions including Davis Love III, David Duval, Steve Elkington, David Toms, and Jonathan Byrd.

THE FIELD
The field was be limited to only the 10 member schools of the BIG EAST Conference. Below are the teams in order of their by their Golfstat ranking.

SETON HALL – 95
Marquette – 99
Creighton - 134
Connecticut – 152
Georgetown – 191
St. John's – 211
Villanova = 214
Butler – 237
Xavier – 238
DePaul - 251

THE FORMAT
Teams played five golfers and counted the four lowest scores per round.

THE STAKES
The Pirates earned the automatic berth to the 2022 NCAA Championship. The Connecticut's Caleb Manuel, the individual co-champion also received an NCAA Championship invitation.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall's season is NOT over. They will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The Pirates will find out where of six possible host sites it will play on Wednesday, May 4 at 4:00 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Competition dates are set for May 15-18.

Field leaderboard 3