Pirates Head West for Redhawk Invitational

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASH. - The Seton Hall men's golf team return to tournament play on for three rounds of golf at the Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash., April 1-2.

Tournament Details:
SEATTLE REDHAWK INVITATIONAL
Host: Seattle University
Location: University Place, Wash.
Course: Chambers Bay Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-72, 6,993 yards
Dates: April 1-2, 2024

THE COURSE:
The design challenge for Chambers Bay was simple yet formidable: Robert Trent Jones II was asked to create a world-class golf course, enjoyable for golfers of any skill level, yet capable of hosting major championships and events.

Built on the site of a former sand and gravel mine adjacent to Puget Sound, Chambers Bay gave the architects an ideal medium upon which to build a traditional links golf course. The extraordinary views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains provide an environment where golfers enjoy not only world-class golf, but also a sense of visual nirvana.

Robert Trent Jones II and his team developed creative solutions to a number of design challenges presented by this monumental project. The land set aside for the golf course was degraded after a century of industrial usage but contained bold landforms shaped by wind and weather. The design team used these landforms as the scaffolding for the golf course design. They crafted a dramatic links landscape by clearing non-native vegetation and reworking the sand piles left from mining operations of the past into massive dunes. They then routed the golf holes between, over, and around these dramatic features and planted the entire course in fescue, the grass found on traditional British links.

Train tracks border the golf holes as they do at such beloved links courses as Prestwick and Royal Adelaide. And "ancient" ruins—from the site's mining era—are visible from a number of holes, as at several links courses in the British Isles. A public walking trail winds through the course, allowing walkers to form impromptu galleries, just as they do at St. Andrews. No housing mars the purity of the golf holes, and as Chambers Bay is a continuously turfed, walking-only venue, no cart paths intrude upon the natural look. This award-winning course possesses the attributes of the world's greatest golf links.

THE FIELD:
In addition to Seton Hall and host Seattle, the large field features 17 other teams including: University of British Columbia, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, Central Michigan, University of Fraser Valley, George Mason, Gonzaga, Grays Harbor College, Idaho, Oregon State, Sacramento State, Sacred Heart, St. Thomas University, Simon Fraser University, South Dakota, Tarleton, and the University of Victoria.

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

THE LINEUP:

Wenliang Xie, Graduate
George Fricker, Junior
Jack Bosworth, Sophomore
Patrick Kahanek, Junior
David Lally, Sophomore

Individual: Wanxi Sun, Senior

LAST TIME OUT:
Graduate student Wenliang Xie (Zhaoqing, China) fired a 5-under-par, 67, to tie for second at The Big Texan and lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to a fourth-place team finish on Tuesday.

Xie had only one blemish on Tuesday, a bogey on the 11th hole, in route to completing one of the best single rounds in program history. With six birdies and 11 pars, he shot a 5-under-par, 67, to shoot to the top of the individual leader board. It's Xie's 11th sub-par tournament, which ranks second-most in program history.

For the tournament, Xie shot a 7-under-par, 73-69-67-209, finishing only four strokes behind the individual champion, UTRGV's Javier Neira.

As a team, The Hall rocketed up the leaderboard after a 3-under-par, 285, on Tuesday. The Pirates finished fourth in the field of 15 teams with a 14-over-par, 292-301-285-878. Host UT Rio Grande Valley won the team title at 10-under-par.

LAST TIME AT CHAMBERS BAY:
Andres Acevedo and Wenliang Xie shot a 1-over-par, 72, to lift The Hall to a second-place tie at the highly-competitive Seattle Redhawk Invitational the last time the Pirates were at Chambers Bay in 2022.

The Pirates were playing well despite brutal weather and high winds on Monday. They were in second place on the back nine when play was halted and all scores were erased in favor of playing one final round. The Hall continued its strong performance in the final round, firing an 8-over-par, 292, to tie Abilene Christian for second place in the 23-team field. Boise State won the team title at 3-over-par.

Among the teams that the Pirates defeated was Oregon State, ranked 50th via Golfstat.

THE SCHEDULE:
The field will play two continuous rounds on Monday and one round on Tuesday. Both days will feature an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start.

THE RESULTS:
Live scoring will be available via BirdieFire.com. Full results will also be available following each day's competition at SHUpirates.com.