Pirates head to Arizona for Loyola Intercollegiate

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. - The Seton Hall men's golf team will return to tournament play with three rounds of golf at the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Course, Feb. 26-28.

Tournament Details:
LOYOLA INTERCOLLEGIATE
Host: Loyola University
Location: Goodyear, Ariz.
Course: Palm Valley Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-72, 7,015 yards
Dates: February 26-28, 2023

THE COURSE:
Designed by renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills, Palm Valley Golf Club's Palms Course is one of the most popular championship Phoenix Arizona golf courses. The excellent layout provides a stiff challenge for accomplished players, yet it is flexible enough for novices to enjoy. One asset that sets Palm Valley Golf Club apart from other Phoenix Arizona golf courses is its diversity in play. The Palms Course has been rated among Arizona's best public golf courses by The Phoenix Business Journal, and the 18th hole is routinely cited by avid players as one of the best par-5s in the state.

THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Loyola (Md.), the large field includes 18 other teams including: Ball State, Bucknell, Delaware, Drake, Eastern Michigan, George Mason, Howard, Idaho, Marshall, Missouri State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota, Southern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, Utah Valley and Wright State. BIG EAST competitors Marquette and St. John's are also in the impressive field.

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

THE LINEUP:

Wenliang Xie, Senior
Wanxi Sun, Junior
George Fricker, Sophomore
David Lally, Freshman
Angus O'Brien, Sophomore

Individual: Brody Hanley, Junior

LAST TIME OUT:
Senior Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) fired a 1-under-par, 70, in the final round to lift the Pirates to a strong finish at the Hal Williams Collegiate on Feb. 14. Xie had four birdies and 11 pars in round three and completed the tournament as the top Pirate competitor. For the three-round event, he tied for 22nd among 84 individual golfers with a 1-under-par, 73-69-70-212. Arkansas' Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira won the individual title at a remarkable 15-under-par.

As a team, The Hall shot a 4-over-par, 284, on in round three after completing the few remaining holes of the second round. The Pirates finished the second round with a 3-over-par, 287. For the tournament, Seton Hall placed 15th in a highly-talented field with a 19-over-par, 296-287-288-871. Fifth-ranked Illinois won the team title at 36-under-par.

LAST TIME AT PALM VALLEY:
Four Pirates finished under par for the tournament and in the top-20 and the Pirates placed fourth in a strong field of 18 teams at the Loyola Intercollegiate in last year's event.

As a team, the Pirates finished fourth with a 12-under-par, 283-283-286-852. Middle Tennessee State won the team title at 29-under-par. A pair of BIG EAST teams were also in the field. Creighton finished ninth at 2-over-par, while DePaul placed 11th at 11-over-par. Seton Hall's 852 is the second-lowest par-72, three-round score in program history. It's the 16th sub-par tournament ever for the Pirates.

Xie was the top Pirate for the tournament. He used four birdies to power a 2-under-par, 70, in his final round. For the event, Xie tied for 10th among 110 individual golfers with a 4-under-par, 70-72-70-212.

THE SCHEDULE:
The field will play three rounds over three days with a shotgun start at 10:45 a.m. ET each day. The Hall will be paired with golfers from Ball State, Marshall and SIU Edwardsville in round one.

THE RESULTS:
Live scoring of the event will be available through Golfstat. Complete results of each day's events will also be available following competition at SHUpirates.com.