BIG EAST Championship Starts Monday in S.C.

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – The Seton Hall women's golf team has once again reached the marquee event on its tournament calendar, the BIG EAST Championship, April 17-19, at Riverton Pointe Country Club.

After seemingly finding a permanent home for the Championship event at Callawassie Resort, the tournament will be played at a different course for the fourth consecutive spring. This time, the field isn't far down the road from Callawassie at beautiful Riverton Pointe Country Club. The men's championship will also be held there next week.

The Pirates had an up and down 2022-23 year, but appear to be playing their best golf of the year at the most-advantageous time. The Hall is coming off its first tournament victory since 2019, a come-from-behind victory at the St. John's Invitational last weekend.

Historically, Seton Hall has been a force at the BIG EAST Championship. Since 2014, the Pirates have placed in the Top-3 in seven of the eight tournaments, and have won three BIG EAST titles and finished as the runner-up twice. The Hall placed third at the marquee event last year in Pine Mountain, Ga., recording its lowest three-round score ever at the BIG EAST Championship.

Tournament Details:
2023 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Host: BIG EAST Conference
Location: Hardeeville, S.C.
Resort: Riverton Pointe Country Club
Course Vitals: Par-72, 6,190 yards
Dates: April 17-19, 2023

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 Lowcountry 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 six member schools of the BIG EAST Conference. Below are the teams in order of their by their Golfstat ranking.

Xavier – 65
Georgetown – 144
SETON HALL – 160
Creighton – 170
Butler – 187
St. John's – 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 South Carolina:

Sarah Fouratt, Graduate student

Fouratt has been a staple of the Pirates starting lineup for the last five years. This will be her fourth BIG EAST Championship with her top effort coming only last year, a seventh-place tie at 7-over-par. This year, Fouratt has shot a career-best 75.52 stroke per round, which ranks eighth-best in the BIG EAST. At the Pirate Collegiate Classic, she broke Seton Hall's record for a par-72, three-round tournament with by placing third with a 6-under-par, 71-66-73-210.

Ana Sarrias Pro, Sophomore

Sarrias Pro had a career-best 76.30 stroke average this year, which ranked 15^th in the BIG EAST. She shot her first career sub-par round with a 70 in round two of the Rivertowne Invitational, and is coming off her best performance of the year, a seventh-place tie at the St. John's Invitational. She was just 6-over-par for the tournament at Saint Andrews.

Ginevra Zavagli, Junior

Zavagli made a major improvement this year, shaving almost a full stroke and a half off her scoring average from last year. In 2022-23, she averaged 75.67 strokes per round, which was 10^th-best in the BIG EAST. Zavagli recorded two Top-10 finishes this year, including a career-best 1-under-par, 73-70-72-215 at the Georgia State Invitational.

Ludovica Busetto, Senior

Busetto also had a dramatic improvement on the course this year, going from a 77.31 last year to an even 76.00 in 2022-23, which was 12^th-best in the BIG EAST. Busetto had her first two career sub-par rounds this year. She's coming off the top finish of her career, a second-place tally with a 2-over-par, 72-72-144, at the St. John's Invitational just last week.

Lara Todorovic, Freshman

Todorovic makes her BIG EAST Championship debut this spring. She has split time with Anne-Sofie Ekman in the lineup, but has started the last two tournaments for the Pirates. Todorovic has averaged 83.00 strokes per round in her first year. Her low tournament was a 24-over-par at the Georgia State Invitational.

LAST TIME OUT
Three Pirates finished among the Top-7 individuals and the Seton Hall women's golf team won the St. John's Invitational on Tuesday. The team victory is the Pirates' first since taking the title of the Princeton Invitational on Sept. 29, 2019 and the program's 17th all-time.

Ludovica Busetto (Padova, Italy), Ana Sarrias Pro (Cadiz, Spain) and Ginevra Zavagli (Rome, Italy) all finished in the Top-7 among 66 individual golfers.

Busetto was brilliant again on Tuesday, using three birdies to shoot her second consecutive 1-over-par, 72. She led the way for the Pirates finishing second overall with a 2-over-par, 72-72-144. St. John's Jessie Kweon won the individual title at 3-under-par. It's Busetto's second career Top-5 finish and her third Top-10.

LAST YEAR AT THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
In her final collegiate round, graduate student Margot Bechadergue fired an even-par, 72, to lift the Pirates to a third-place finish at the 2022 BIG EAST Championship at Callaway Gardens.

Bechadergue channeled her emotion and the result was brilliant. She had no blemishes through her first 13 holes on Saturday. She birdied the fourth and sixth holes, before bogeying holes 14 and 15 late. For her final round, Bechadergue shot the lowest Pirate round of the tournament, an even-par, 72.
She placed ninth among all individual golfers for the tournament with an 8-over-par, 74-78-72-224.

As a team, the Pirates finally showed in round three the quality caliber of golf we've become accustomed to. The Hall shot the lowest third-round score in the field, a 6-over-par, 294. The effort enabled the Pirates to hop over Creighton to finish in third place in the final standings with a 38-over-par, 306-302-294-902.

Seton Hall's 902 is the lowest BIG EAST Championship final score in program history, besting the 904 shot at Gateway in Fort Myers last year. The Pirates' 294 in the third round today, tied the Pirates' lowest single-round record at the BIG EAST Championship.

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 each day will begin at 8:00 a.m. Seton Hall will be paired with golfers from Xavier and Georgetown in round one.

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