Macdonald Cup Next Up for Pirates 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 25-26, on the campus of Yale University.

The event was originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but due to heavy rain in the forecast, the tournament will be played with one rounds on Friday and two rounds, if possible, on Saturday.

Tournament Details:
MACDONALD CUP
Host: Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Course: Yale Golf Course
Course Vitals: Par-70, 6,766 yards
Dates: September 25-26, 2026

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 nine other schools: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Harvard, Loyola (Md.), Pennsylvania and Princeton.

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…

Will Hennessee, Junior
Jacob De Jesus, Senior
Blake Goodnight, Sophomore
Dylan Holmes, Freshman
Isaiah Williams, Senior

LAST TIME AT YALE:
Wanxi Sun fired a 2-under-par, 68, to lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to a second-place finish at the 2023 Macdonald Cup. Sun had five birdies and 10 pars to fuel his 2-under-par, 68, in round three. For the tournament, he tied for ninth place among 72 individual golfers with a 6-over-par, 78-70-68-216.

As a team, The Hall climbed the leader board to second place in the final standings after a 2-over-par, 282, in round three, the top round in the field. For the tournament, the Pirates shot a 21-over-par, 288-291-282-861.

LAST TIME OUT:
Junior Will Hennessee (Tulsa, Okla.) shot a remarkable 7-under-par, 64, in round three to lift the Seton Hall men's golf team to a third-place finish at the RedHawk Invitational on Sept. 15. Hennessee had a staggering nine birdies to go with seven pars to fuel his career low round. The effort is tied for the second-most strokes under par for a single round in program history and the most since Lloyd Jefferson Go shot a 64 at the par-71 Rutherford Intercollegiate on April 16, 2017.

As a team, The Hall rocketed up the team leader board in round three thanks to the top round in the field, a 7-under-par, 277. It's the second-lowest par-71 team round in program history and enabled the Pirates to go from eighth place after 36 holes to a third-place finish. For the tournament, Seton Hall was 6-under-par with a 283-286-277-846.

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