The Seton Hall golf team concluded their spring season with a second place finish at the Cavalier Classic this past weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
The Pirates beat out Longwood University, Liberty University and North Carolina State, to finish with a 19-over par score of 595, only trailing the tournament host University of Virginia's 575.
Longwood shot a 23-over-par, while Liberty finished 24-over-par and N.C. State shot 25-over-par.
Freshman Brandon Park led Seton Hall with a two-under-par score of 142, placing him second overall in the tournament.
Park led all golfers after the opening round with a three-under-par 69, followed by a 73 in the second round.
"I was a little disappointed because I had a two shot lead going into the fifteenth hole and I might have gotten a little too greedy," Park said. "My coach says if you have a lead you have to try and build on it no matter what day it is."
Sophomore Troy Spencer finished the tournament two-over-par after shooting a 72 in the first round and a 74 in the final round, tying him for a seventh place finish.
"I think there were a lot of positives taken away from Virginia," said Spencer. "It was a really strong field and a great opportunity to move our ranking up for next year."
Senior David Sampson finished with a total score of 155, junior Borja Faixat shot a 156, and senior Ryan Castanet rounded out the Pirates score card by shooting a 160.
Seton Hall trailed Virginia University by six strokes after the first round of the tournament until the Cavaliers shot a tournament best 284 in the final round, leaving them the champions with one-under-par.
"Virginia was playing on their home course and they ran away with it," White said. "They were No. 17 in the nation and after the first day we were only six strokes behind them."
Golf Week ranked Seton Hall as the 182nd best team in the country out of 304 on Sunday May 2, after the Pirates placed fourth in the Big East Championship and finished with a spring stroke average of 301 in three-round tournaments.
"Mentally, our team has improved greatly," White said. "We have a good solid foundation and we can continue to improve over the next couple of years."
The whole Seton Hall team will look to improve their game over the summer, as White encourages the players to go out and play as much as they can, while resting up due to having to play two seasons over the year.
Editor's note: The original article mistakingly identified the University of Virginia as "Virginia University" and incorrectly listed the number of teams ranked by Golf Week as 200. The article has since been updated with the correct information. The Setonian regrets the errors.
Matthew Bryant can be reached at matthew.bryant@student.shu.edu.
