Seton Hall Heads to The Big Texan This Week

KERRVILLE, TEXAS - The Seton Hall men's golf team will return to action on Monday with the first two of three rounds of golf at The Big Texan at Comanche Trace, March 21-22.

Tournament Details:
THE BIG TEXAN
Host: University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley
Location: Kerrville, Texas
Course: Comanche Trace (Hills and Valley Courses)
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,059 yards
Dates: March 21-22, 2021

THE HATS
For The Big Texan, the Seton Hall men's golf team is wearing University of Southwest hats to remember those who tragically lost their lives on Tuesday. @anygiventues has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the families of the victims. If you have the means, please consider donating.

THE COURSE
Tom Kite, along with Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell, designed the first 18, The Valley and The Hills, utilizing the exquisite Hill Country terrain, which is blessed with majestic oaks. Lakes and streams were also incorporated along with the best bent grass greens in the state. Jay and Carter Morrish designed a series of streams and lakes that meander around the third 9, The Creeks, which opened in July of 2008.Comanche Trace is somewhat unique because they are not dense with trees, but they have marquis trees throughout. The fairways are generous and playable with striking bunkers and outstanding views on each green.

Comanche Trace offers beautiful golf holes, natural contouring and pristine conditions. The greens are a blend of Bent Grass, Crenshaw and L93 bent grass, which, combined with remarkable drainage and dry air, have no need for fans. Comanche Trace course conditions are renowned among golfers as the best in the state and some of the best in the nation.

All three nines begin from the high point of the 15-acre Practice Facility, located at the Honor House. The Practice Facility includes a short-game area at the lower end with two, large tee boxes, practice green, fairway type bunker, greenside bunker, and five target greens inside of 120 yards. It is a pristine setting with long-range views and beautiful, old live oak trees for shading around the practice area.

THE FIELD
In addition to Seton Hall and host Texas-Rio Grande Valley, the field features 11 other teams including: Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Lehigh, Midland College, New Orleans, Northern Colorado, Odessa College, Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas Southern and UT-Arlington.

THE SETON HALL LINEUP

Wenliang Xie, Junior
Andres Acevedo, Graduate
Gregor Tait, Graduate
Angus O'Brien, Freshman
Wanxi Sun, Sophomore

LAST TIME OUT
Graduate student Gregor Tait (Martlesham Heath, England) fired a 4-under-par, 68, in the final round to lift the Pirates to the team title of the Ross Collegiate Classic on March 8.

Tait had no blemishes on one of the finest individual rounds of his career. He had four birdies and 14 pars on Tuesday to register the Pirates' top round of the day. His effort vaulted him up the final leader board to a 17th place finish with a 4-over-par, 75-77-68-220.

Seton Hall finished up a stellar second round on Tuesday since darkness halted competition on Monday. The Pirates' even-par, 288, in round two enabled them to pass Elon for the team lead. In the afternoon, The Hall put the finishing touches on a 1-under-par, 287, in round three to solidify the Pirates' second team victory of the year. It's the program's 30th tournament victory all-time.

For the tournament, the Pirates shot a 9-over-par, 298-288-287-873, out-pacing the field by four strokes. Elon finished second at 13-over-par. Three other BIG EAST schools were also participating. Connecticut finish fifth at 22-over-par, St. John's was seventh at 27-over-par and Villanova placed ninth at 32-over-par.

LAST TIME AT COMANCHE TRACE
Tait fired a 3-under-par, 69, in the final round to lift the Pirates to a fourth-place tie at The Big Texan in last year's event. Tait was brilliant in round three, using six birdies and nine pars to fuel the top Pirate tournament round of the spring to that point. For the tournament, Tait shot a 5-over-par, 73-79-69-221.

As a team, Seton Hall tied New Orleans for the second-best final round. The Pirates shaved 11 strokes off their second-round score, firing a 3-under-par, 285, their best team round of the spring. The Hall tied Odessa College for fourth place with a 15-over-par, 298-296-285-879. Abilene Christian used a 10-under-par final round to win the team title at 4-under-par for the tournament.

The top Pirate for the tournament was Deven Ramachandran (San Rafael, Calif.), who shot a 2-over-par, 74, on Tuesday. The junior tied for ninth place among 55 individual golfers for the third Top-10 finish of his career. Ramachandran shot a 2-over-par, 74-70-74-218, for the tournament, finishing eight strokes behind the individual champion, Abilene Christian's Alex Clous.

FORMAT / TEE TIMES:
The field will play two rounds on Monday and one round on Tuesday. Monday's play will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., while Tuesday's final round will have a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

RESULTS:
Live scoring will be available via Golgfstat.com. Complete results of each day's events will also be available following competition at SHUpirates.com.