The Hall Plays the MacDonald Cup This Weekend

NEW HAVEN, CONN. - The Seton Hall men's golf team return to tournament action for three rounds of golf at the MacDonald Cup, September 23-24, on the campus of Yale University.

Tournament Details:
MACDONALD CUP
Host: Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Course: Yale Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-70, 6,795 yards
Dates: September 23-24, 2023

THE COURSE:
In 1923, a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland was given to Yale by Mrs. Ray Tompkins in memory of her husband. Under the supervision of Charles Blair Macdonald, the renowned golf course architect, champion golfer, and co-founder of the USGA, plans were made for an 18-hole golf course. With a budget of $400,000, Macdonald, in collaboration with Seth Raynor, designed a masterpiece which opened for play in 1926.

Today, the Yale Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest examples from the Macdonald & Raynor portfolios. Large greens with deep bunkers and wide, rolling fairways are the core of Yale's strategic and penal character. The Yale Golf Course is consistently recognized as the finest collegiate course in the nation. The course has been the site of every significant state championship, two USGA Junior National events, and NCAA Regionals in 1991, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2015 and again in 2022. The course has also been the home of the Nike Connecticut Open.

The 6,766-yard, par-70 course features large and deeply bunkered greens and narrow fairways that challenge golfers at all levels of play. Two of the holes—the 432-yard par-4 fourth and the 238-yard par 3 ninth—have been ranked among the world's 100 most difficult holes.

THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Yale, the field includes 10 other schools: Bucknell, Bryant, UC San Diego, Fairfield, Fordham, Harvard, Le Moyne and Rhode Island. Fellow BIG EAST opponents, Georgetown and St. John's, are also in the field.

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

THE LINEUP:
Here's Seton Hall's lineup for the MacDonald Cup…

Wenliang Xie, Graduate
Wanxi Sun, Senior
George Fricker, Junior
David Lally, Sophomore
Patrick Kahanek, Sophomore

Individual: Eli Shah, Freshman

LAST TIME AT YALE'S GOLF COURSE:
Seton Hall returns to Yale for the first time since playing at the 2021 NCAA East Regional. Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) fired a 2-under-par, 68, in round three to help pace the Pirates to an eighth-place finish.

The 12th- seeded Pirates, needing to place in the Top-5 to see their memorable year continue, placed eighth, out-shooting a pair of teams ranked nationally in the Top-35, Charlotte (31) and NC State (27). The Hall opened the day trailing the fifth spot by 11 strokes, but simply couldn't make ground with a 7-over-par, 287, in round three.

For the tournament, The Hall was 8-over-par with a 275-286-287-848. Georgia Southern placed fifth at 6-under-par, 14 strokes ahead of the Pirates. The other schools advancing are Wake Forest (-26), North Carolina (-19), Texas Tech (-16) and North Florida (-16).

Seton Hall's eighth place finish is the best in program history at an NCAA Regional and its 848 final team score is the lowest in five all-time trips to the marquee event.

LAST TIME OUT:
Junior George Fricker (Woodbridge, England) shot 1-under-par for the tournament to lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to a third-place finish at the 2023 Alex Lagowitz Memorial two weeks ago at Seven Oaks Golf Club.

Fricker used 15 pars to fuel a 1-over-par, 73, in round three, but truly shot towards the top of the leader board after his round two. In Saturday's second round, he had five birdies in route to a 4-under-par, 68. For the tournament, Fricker placed fifth with a 1-under-par, 74-68-73-215. It's already Fricker's fourth career sub-par tournament and he's only beginning his second year in South Orange. It's his fifth career top-10 finish.

As a team, The Hall placed third among 12 teams with a 7-over-par, 298-286-287-871. Yale ran away with the team title at 11-under-par. BIG EAST foe Villanova finished one stroke ahead of the Pirates in second place at 6-over-par.

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