Xie, Sun Power Monster Final Round at Grier Jones

Tuesday, October 10

Newton, Kan. / Sand Creek Station

All Day

Seton Hall University

Third Round

Wenliang Xie and Wanxi Sun come off the green during a practice round in the fall of 2023

10/10/2023 6:45:00 PM | Men's Golf

LIVE SCORING

The Hall finishes at 20-under-par to finish second in a strong field.

NEWTON, KAN. – Graduate student Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) tied for third overall and guided the Seton Hall men's golf team to a second-place team finish at the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational on Tuesday.

Xie put together his third-consecutive sub-par round, using three birdies and 14 pars to fuel a 2-under-par, 70. For the tournament, he shot an astounding 11-under-par, 67-68-70-205. In addition to being a career-best for Xie, it's tied for the second-lowest par-72, three-round score in Seton Hall history.

Xie finished just five strokes behind the individual champion, Oklahoma State's Rayhan Thomas.

Xie now has five Top-5 finishes and 11 Top-10 finishes in his career, both of which rank among the Top-10 in Pirates history. His 34 career sub-par rounds rank second-most for Pirate.

Collectively, The Hall also had a historically good tournament. The Pirates had the top round three in the field on Tuesday, shooting a remarkable 11-under-par, 277, which is tied for the second-lowest single team round in Seton Hall history. The effort allowed The Hall to move up to second place and finish just three strokes shy of the champion and host Wichita State.

For the tournament, the Pirates finished with a 20-under-par, 285-282-277-844. The 844 is the third-lowest par-72 three-round team score in history, while their 20-under-par is the third-most strokes under par for any tournament.

The top individual round of the tournament went to Wanxi Sun (Danville, Calif.) on Tuesday. The senior had a remarkable eight birdies in route to a 6-under-par, 66, the lowest score of any Pirate so far this fall. The effort allowed Sun to vault up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 21^st place with a 2-under-par, 76-72-66-214.

It's Sun's fourth-career sub-par tournament. His 66 is one stroke shy of Seton Hall's par-72 single-round record.

Tying with Sun is sophomore Jack Bosworth (Simsbury, Conn.) who put together easily the best tournament performance of his collegiate career. On Tuesday, he had four birdies and 12 pars for a 2-under-par, 70, his first career sub-par round. For the event, Bosworth was also 2-under-par with a 72-72-70-214.

George Fricker (Woodbridge, England) was a fourth Pirate to shoot under par on Tuesday. The junior had three birdies and 13 pars on his way to a 1-under-par, 71. For the tournament, he was 3-over-par with a 74-74-71-219.

Sophomore Patrick Kahanek (San Antonio, Texas) had two tough holes which hurt an otherwise solid final round. He finished with a 5-over-par, 77. For the two-day event, he tied Fricker at 3-over-par with a 72-70-77-219.

Tournament Details:
GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL
Host: Wichita State University
Location: Newton, Kan.
Course: Sand Creek Station
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,367 yards
Dates: October 9-10, 2023

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THE COURSE:
The course plays on the town's railroad history, and many holes are, as they say in Scotland, "hard by the cinders," continuing a century's old tradition of golf bordering railways. We have also recreated the famous Road Hole green on our 16th Hole, which once sat adjacent to a railway. Another replicates the famous "Redan" from North Berwick, Scotland. Other holes have characteristics of early American holes, which also fronted railways at one time. The 12th hole for example, is similar to the fourth at the National Golf Links of America, one of our early classics. The ninth features a small platform green; typical of early American courses while the green on the par 5 fourth has some wild contours, seldom built these days.

Despite playing on these old-style characteristics, the course is thoroughly modern in other ways. The 10th is a long par 5 requiring negotiation of water on all three shots. The 18th is a long par 4 requiring a tee shot to a narrow fairway between flanking fairway bunkers. On the front nine, the long sixth may be the toughest hole.

The course also makes use of the site's best natural features, with holes 1, 2, 8 and 9 bordering Sand Creek itself. Great care was taken to utilize every existing tree to enhance golf holes strategy and character. Several ponds have been built to enhance aesthetics and a few influence play.

THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Wichita State, the field included 14 other schools: Abilene Christian, Air Force, Denver, Drake, Hutch CC, LaSalle, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Rice, SIU-Edwardsville, Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

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

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will finish the 2023 fall season with the Daniel Island Invitational, Oct. 29-31, at Ralston Creek Golf Course in Daniel Island, S.C.

2023 GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL - Team Scores
Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	TOTAL	PAR
1	Wichita State	285	271	285	841	-23
2	SETON HALL	285	282	277	844	-20
3	Rice	285	276	286	847	-17
4	UTRGV	282	281	285	848	-16
5	Missouri State	285	282	284	851	-13
6	UT Arlington	291	282	284	857	-7
T7	Hutchinson CC	292	279	290	861	-3
T7	Abilene Christian	286	280	295	861	-3
9	SIU Edwardsville	291	281	293	865	+1
10	La Salle	286	285	298	869	+5
11	Denver	294	284	292	870	+6
12	Drake	292	286	294	872	+8
13	Texas A&M Commerce	293	289	293	875	+11
14	Air Force	294	291	301	886	+22
15	Northern Iowa	298	292	298	888	+24

2023 GRIER JONES SHOCKER INVITATIONAL - Seton Hall Player Scores
Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	TOTAL	PAR
T3	Wenliang Xie	67	68	70	205	-11
T21	Wanxi Sun	76	72	66	214	-2
T21	Jack Bosworth	72	72	70	214	-2
T40	George Fricker	74	74	71	219	+3
T40	Patrick Kahanek	72	70	77	219	+3