Marquette Golf Opens BIG EAST Championship at Callawassie Friday

Marquette seeks to claim its third BIG EAST men's golf team title in five years, and third straight individual crown, when championship play gets under way at Callawassie Island G.C. beginning on Friday morning.

The Golden Eagles, who enter the tournament as the top-seeded team, have taken home team titles in 2008, 2015 and 2017, while Matthew Bachmann (2017) and Hunter Eichhorn (2018) have won back-to-back medals.

Team Seedings: 1.) Marquette 2.) Seton Hall 3.) Georgetown 4.) Butler 5.) Xavier 6.) DePaul 7.) St. John's 8.) Creighton 9.) Villanova

Marquette Lineup: Oliver Farrell, Hunter Eichhorn, Tyler Leach, Matt Murlick, Austin Kendziorski

ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Callawassie Island G.C. will host BIG EAST championship play for the sixth straight year, part of a hosting agreement scheduled to run through 2022. Play at Callawassie takes place on the Dogwood and Magnolia courses, which consist of nine holes each, to make a Par 72, 6,993-yard layout.

Georgetown and MU have alternated titles in the nine-team field since 2015, and the Hoyas are the defending champions after a three-stroke victory (289-304-291—884) over the Golden Eagles (290-306-291—887), despite both teams turning in 3-over-par cards in their final rounds.

Eichhorn held on for a two-stroke victory over Matt Murlick - Eichhorn was the only man in the field to card a subpar 54-hole score at 2-under-par (69-73-72–214), while Murlick made a run towards the top of the leaderboard with a 4-under-par 68 in the final round (70-78-68—216).

MARQUETTE'S CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

Friday's opening round will begin the 14th BIG EAST Men's Golf Championship appearance for the Golden Eagles. Since realignment and the first year at Callawassie Island in 2014, Marquette has not finished worse than fourth at the BIG EAST championships, and either first or second in four of five years.

Last year's 884 54-hole total was the lowest for MU at Callawassie Island, and Eichhorn's 214 was MU's lowest BIG EAST championship score since Mike Van Sickle's second-place 210 in 2009, when he was the top-ranked player in the nation.

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS

For the second straight year, Eichhorn and Oliver Farrell were named First Team All-BIG EAST selections, while Matt Murlick and freshman Tyler Leach took second team accolades.

Farrell is the first player in Marquette program history to earn four all-conference selections, making the legaue's first team for the third straight year. MU joined the BIG EAST in 2005-06, and has had a conference affiliation since 1987-88.

Murlick, who finished the regular season 11th in the BIG EAST in scoring average at 74.11, earned his third straight all-conference nod and is one of four players in school history with three all-conference selections (Farrell, Pat Sanchez, Mike Van Sickle)

RANKINGS REPORT

With a season average round score of 288.22 (1.11 vs. par), Marquette is the top-seeded team in the championships.
Farrell is the top-seeded player and conference scoring leader at 71.0 (-0.78 vs. par), while Eichhorn is seeded second (71.11, -0.67 vs. par) - they are the only two BIG EAST players with season average round scores below par.
MU enters BIG EAST championship play ranked 43rd in the latest Golfstat NCAA Team Rankings (April 24) - the Golden Eagles are the only BIG EAST team ranked in the nation's top 150.
Farrell has climbed to No. 34 in the latest Golfstat rankings, while Eichhorn is No. 50, thanks in part to their finishes in a strong field at the Thunderbird Collegiate.