The Seton Hall men's golf team placed fourth out of 12 teams after making up three strokes in the final round of the Big East Championship at Innsbrook Golf and Country Club in Palm Harbor, Fla.
The Pirates shot a 25-over-par, 295-292-290-877, which was four strokes behind the 2010 Champion Georgetown's 21-over-par, 294-286-293. Seton Hall has finished in the top four at the last three Big East Championships.
"It's bittersweet," head coach Clay White said. "We are on the brink of winning it all."
Seton Hall entered the final round in a tie for third place with defending
champion and 2010 favorite, Louisville, just seven strokes behind Georgetown.
Seton Hall shot their best round of the tournament with a six-over-par 290 while Georgetown shot a 293; however Notre Dame and Louisville finished with final round scores of 286 and 289 to finish second and third respectively. Notre Dame's come from behind performance left them just one stroke behind Georgetown.
The top six teams finished within seven strokes of each other.
The Pirates were led in the final round by freshman Brandon Park who shot a two-under-par 69 in his first Big East Championship. His final round score placed him in a tie for eighth place.
"I've done it before and it wasn't a foreign feeling," Park said. "Two days before I didn't sleep too well. This kind of stuff means a lot to me especially because we only have four years of this."
Sophomore Troy Spencer was in fourth place, shooting one-over-par through two rounds of play. He shot a disappointing six over par, 77 in the final round. His performance was second best for the Pirates and still good enough to place him in a tie for 19th place with a seven over par, 71-72-77-220.
"I am proud of Troy," White said. "You can't second guess yourself because he was one of the reasons we were in the position we were going into the final round."
Junior Colin Van Es finished strong in his final round shooting a one-over-par 72, after two rounds of four-over-par 75's. Van Es' nine over par, 75-75-72-222, left him in a tie for 23rd place.
Junior Bora Faixat remained one of the Pirates' most consistent players after finishing with a nine-over-par, 76-72-74-222, in the tournament. His performance left him in a tie for 23rd with Van Es.
Senior Ryan Castanet was also consistent for the Pirates in only his second tournament of the spring due to a shoulder injury that was suppose to leave him out until after the championship.
"A lot of credit is due to those guys (seniors) and to where our program is," Spencer said. "They're the reason I came here. I saw what they were doing with the program and wanted to be a part of it."
Seton Hall showed their consistency with all five players finishing with seven strokes of each other. Seton Hall was also the only team in the Big East Championship to have every player on their team finish in the top 30 or top half of the standings.
Seton Hall concludes their 2010 spring season at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va. on May 1-2.
Colin Rajala can be reached at colin.rajal@student.shu.edu.
