Lally, Fricker Power Pirates to the Lead at BIG EAST Round 1

Friday, April 28

Hardeeville, S.C. / Riverton Pointe Country Club

All Day

Seton Hall University

First Round

Photo by: Stephen B. Morton for the Big East

Lally, Fricker Power Pirates to the Lead at BIG EAST Round 1

4/28/2023 6:43:00 PM | Men's Golf

LIVE SCORING PHOTO GALLERY

The defending champion Pirates lead the field by four strokes after 18 holes at the 2023 BIG EAST Championship.

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – Freshman David Lally (Wicklow, Ireland) and sophomore George Fricker (Woodbridge, England) each fired a 3-under-par, 69, and the Seton Hall men's golf team, the defending BIG EAST champions, are once again the leaders after round one.

Lally was brilliant in his first-ever BIG EAST Championship round. The freshman was without a blemish over his final 12 holes, using six birdies to match his career-best, a 3-under-par, 69. Fricker had a similar round, shooting par or better over his final 13 holes, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5, seventh hole.

Both Pirates are currently tied with Villanova's Peter Weaver and St. John's Jack Simon for the individual lead after 18 holes.

As a team, the Pirates find themselves in a familiar position, atop the leader board. The Hall was the lone team to shoot under par on Friday, firing a 2-under-par, 286. It enters Saturday's second round with a four-stroke lead over second-place Butler. Villanova is third at 3-over-par and top-seeded Marquette is currently tied for fourth at 5-over-par.

The Hall's 286 is the fourth-lowest single round at the BIG EAST Championship in program history.

Riverton Pointe proved to be a difficult course for the women's field at last week's BIG EAST Championship, but the men's scores were generally low on Friday. The field was helped mightily by the significant rainfall Thursday night, which slowed the greens.

Two additional Pirates are also currently tied, junior Wanxi Sun (Danville, Calif.) and senior Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) each shot a stellar 2-over-par, 74. Sun had five birdies to fuel his round, while Xie was powered by two birdies and 12 pars. Both players are currently tied for 21^st place overall.

Rounding out the Seton Hall scoring, sophomore Angus O'Brien (Barwon Heads, Australia) improved mightily on the back nine, but still finished with a 9-over-par, 81.

The Reigning Champions Set The Tone! @SHUMGolf leads the BIG EAST Men's Golf Championship by four strokes after day one. Pirates head coach J.T. Harper joins @John_Fanta to recap the first round. #HALLin x #BIGEASTgolf pic.twitter.com/6Y64TfAQ1P
— BIG EAST Conference (@BIGEAST) April 28, 2023

Tournament Details:
2023 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: BIG EAST Conference
Location: Hardeeville, S.C.
Resort: Riverton Pointe Country Club
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,006 yards
Dates: April 28-30, 2023

TOURNAMENT LEADER BOARDS

Team Leaders

Player Leaders

Combo Listing

Statistical Leaders

Twitter

THE COURSE
Riverton Pointe is without question the ultimate expression of the Nicklaus Design guarantee of uncompromising standards in superior golf course design. With large, subtle greens and fairways lined with tall sea pines and splashes of colorful wildflowers, the course is designed to harmonize perfectly with the lush Low Country landscape. The unique aesthetics of the course create a distinct visual experience that simply can't be replicated, and are destined to leave a lasting impression on those fortunate enough to enjoy Riverton Pointe.

From a playability standpoint, the golf course is designed to appeal to a broad range of players. The course offers five sets of tees – stretching all the way out to over 7300 yards for low-handicappers – while also placing an emphasis on forgiveness and overall playability for high-handicappers and beginners.

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

Marquette – 56
Butler – 166
SETON HALL – 169
Connecticut - 173
St. John's – 181
DePaul – 203
Xavier – 204
Creighton – 207
Georgetown – 219
Villanova – 230

THE FORMAT
Teams will play five golfers and count the four lowest scores per round.

THE STAKES
The BIG EAST will crown a team champion, which earns an automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Championship. The individual champion also receives an NCAA Championship invitation.

TEE TIMES
The field will play one round (18 holes) over each day for three days. Competition on Friday and Saturday will begin at 8:00 a.m. On Championship Sunday, the action will begin at 8:30 a.m. Seton Hall will be paired with golfers from Butler and Villanova in round two and will tee off the first hole beginning at 10:15 a.m.

THE RESULTS
Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com. Full day results will also be available at SHUPirates.com.