Pirates Set for 2022 BIG EAST Championship This Week

PINE MOUNTAIN, GA. – The Seton Hall women's golf team will wrap up the 2021-22 regular season with the marquee event on its calendar, the BIG EAST Championship, April 21-23, at Callaway Resort and Gardens.

The Pirates are once again considered one of the favorites to win the BIG EAST title. The Hall has three prior conference championships since the program's inception prior to the 2010-11 year. Led by Megan Tenhundfeld and Karlie Zabrosky, who played on all three teams, the Pirates won titles in three consecutive years, 2014-16. Since then, The Hall has finished second twice, including last year's championship held at The Club at Gateway in Fort Myers, Fla.

Despite three team titles, the women's golf program has never had an individual BIG EAST champion, but a Pirate has come in second place five times. Tenhundfeld and Erin McClure tied for second in 2014. McClure placed second again in 2015. Cassie Pantelas tied for second in 2017, and most recently, Lizzie Win was the runner-up in 2019.

With a Golfstat ranking of 134, the Pirates are again considered a title contender. This year, they'll compete on a new championship course as the BIG EAST home, Callawassie Resort, undergoes renovations. This year's competition will be at Callaway Resort and Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

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, 6,182 yards
Dates: April 21-23, 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 will be limited to only the six member schools of the BIG EAST Conference. Below are the teams in order of their by their Golfstat ranking.

Xavier – 96
SETON HALL – 134
Georgetown – 140
Creighton – 165
St. John's – 176
Butler – 199

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

THE LINEUP
Seton Hall will be bringing the following lineup to Georgia:

Sarah Fouratt, Senior

Fouratt makes her team-most third trip to the BIG EAST Championship. She tied for 25^th at Callawassie as a freshman, and last year, placed 13^th at The Gateway with a 14-over-par, 78-78-74-230. Fouratt has averaged 75.62 strokes per round as a senior, which ranks fifth-best in the BIG EAST Conference. She has two top-5 finishes this year and two sub-par rounds.

Margot Bechadergue, Graduate Student

Bechadergue took the BIG EAST by storm in her first year as a Pirate. She currently leads the team with a 75.61 scoring average, which ranks fourth-best in the conference. Bechadergue has logged a team-high four top-10 finishes this year to go with five sub-par rounds. At Penn State last fall, she set Seton Hall's par-72, three-round record with a 5-under-par, 211.

Ginevra Zavagli, Sophomore

Zavagli makes her second trip to the BIG EAST Championship after tying for 18^th place with a 77-77-81-235 in last year's event. She took a step forward in her second year in South Orange, shaving almost a full stroke off her scoring average. This year, Zavagli is averaging 76.96 strokes per round, which ranks 13^th in the BIG EAST. She has logged three Top-10 finishes this year.

Ana Sarrias Pro, Freshman

Sarrias Pro makes her BIG EAST Championship debut after a stellar first year in South Orange. The freshman had a 77.00 scoring average, which ranks 14^th in the BIG EAST. Sarrias Pro had two Top-10 finishes, including a career-best 5-over-par, 75-74-149 at the Independence Classic.

Ludovica Busetto, Junior

Busetto is also making her first trip to the BIG EAST Championship in her first year as a lineup regular. She chopped more than five full strokes off her scoring average to settle with a 77.17 this year, which ranks 15^th in the conference. Busetto had two Top-10 finishes this year.

LAST TIME OUT
Bechadergue shot a 6-over-par, 78, in the final round to lead the Pirates to an eighth-place finish at the Hoya Invitational at Woodmont Country Club on April 11. Bechadergue had a birdie and 11 pars to fuel her final round. For the tournament, she tied for 30th place among 69 individual golfers with a 21-over-par, 82-77-78-237.

As a team, the Pirates shot a 32-over-par, 320, in the final round. For the tournament, they finished at 82-over-par with a 321-305-320-946. Boston University won the team title at 51-over-par. Among the other BIG EAST competitors, Georgetown finished in sixth place at 69-over-par, while St. John's came in 10th at 90-over-par.

LAST YEAR AT THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
In their final collegiate round, Maddie Sager and Lizzie Win again led the Pirates, each shooting a 1-over-par, 73, to lift the Pirates to a second-place finish at the 2021 BIG EAST Championship at The Club at Gateway.

Sager was steady throughout her final round before fading late. She was 2-under-par through her first 12 holes, but bogeyed three of her final six. Sager's 73 was her top score of the tournament and enabled her to record her seventh career top-5 finish. For the three-day event, she was the top Pirate finisher, placing fifth with an 8-over-par, 75-76-73-224.

Win was even par on the front nine and alternated bogey/birdie through the first five holes of the back nine. Her fourth and final birdie of the day was on her final collegiate hole, the par-5 18th hole. For the tournament, Win tied for sixth overall, finishing just one stroke behind Sager with a 9-over-par, 74-78-73-224.

The Pirates entered the day trailing Xavier by 14 strokes, and made a major run late, at one point, cutting their deficit to just three. Seton Hall shot a 6-over-par, 294, in the final round, which was the top round of the day, its best round of the spring season, and the top BIG EAST Championship round in program history. For the tournament, The Hall finished second for the second time in its history with a 40-over-par, 301-309-294-904. The Pirates' 40-over-par is the lowest tournament total score at the BIG EAST Championship in program history, including the totals of the three years they won the event.

THE STAKES
The BIG EAST will crown a team champion, which earns an automatic berth to the 2022 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 each day will begin at 8:00 a.m. Seton Hall will be paired with golfers from Xavier and Georgetown in round one. Ludovica Busetto will get the Pirates started with a tee time of 8:50 a.m. off the first tee.

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