Golf begins 2020-21 at BIG EAST Match Play in Florida

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's golf team begins its 2020-21 season at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida for BIG EAST Match Play on Monday, Feb. 1 and Tuesday, Feb. 2.

The competition marks MU's first intercollegiate competition since Feb. 16-18, 2020 in Puerto Rico.

THE EVENT
The Golden Eagles will take on their counterparts from three other BIG EAST Conference Institutions, UConn, DePaul and Seton Hall in a match play event.

Competition begins Monday, Feb. 1 at 7 a.m. Central time with play on tees 1 and 10. SHU and DePaul will hit off No. 1, while UConn and the Golden Eagles begin on the back nine. Monday afternoon play will pit MU against DePaul and UConn against Seton Hall.

Marquette will square off against Seton Hall in Tuesday morning's final pairing, while DePaul and UConn will do the same.

THE COURSE
Pelican Golf Club in the Tampa-Clearwater area is the host of the Pelican Women's Championship LPGA event. The Pelican's 18-hole golf course, designed with inspiration from Donald Ross' original layout, can play to a par 70 at 7,000 yards, and features lush greenery, undulating terrain, and crushed quartz sand.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Head coach Steve Bailey: "(It's big) that these guys will get to play with their college team for the first time in almost 11 months and they're really eager to get out and compete again. A few of them have played some individual events and played over the summer, but no chance to put on their logo again and go out and compete. Super excited for that opportunity and all really thankful for all the folks that made this possible. Just with the medical staff and having to go through testing quite often. There's been a lot of people throughout this whole process that we're really appreciative for the work they put in and just thankful for the opportunity to get out and compete again."

Hunter Eichhorn: "Our plan is to play golf right now and we're hoping that our season continues to go on as it's planned. Just our plan is just to take advantage of all the opportunities we get. Obviously, it has been a long year we haven't been able to play going back to last spring, so we're just looking forward to getting out there and competing."

MARQUETTE'S LINEUP
Lineup: Hunter Eichhorn, Tyler Leach, Nicolas Evangelio, Aidan Lafferty, Josh Robinson, Scott Schlader

Eichhorn, a 2020 PING All-American, returns for his fourth season in Blue & Gold looking to build on one of the best resumes in Marquette golf history. He claimed medalist honors at a pair of events in the fall of 2019 (Windon Memorial Classic at Conway Farms and the Marquette Intercollegiate at Erin Hills) and was named to the top-15 in the PGA Tour University ranking for all of men's college golf.

Leach is building off an impressive sophomore campaign in which the Spring Valley, Wisconsin native won his first college tournament on Oct. 14-15 at the Crooked Stick Invitational against a loaded field.

Eichhorn (71.50 career scoring average) and Leach (73.25) have each staked their claim as two of the top golfers in program history and rank first and fourth, respectively, on MU's career scoring list.

Evangelio will compete for MU for the first time after transferring this summer from NAIA Missouri Valley College. The Spaniard was a two-time PING All-American and has three years of eligibility remaining with the Golden Eagles.

Lafferty and Robinson each return for their sophomore campaigns and it was Lafferty who was MU's top finisher at the last event of 2019-20. The Downers Grove, Illinois native tied for 13th at the Puerto Rico Classic at 4-under par and was named the BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week on Feb. 20.

Schlader rounds out MU's lineup as a freshman out of Phoenix, Arizona. The left-hander was runner-up at the Arizona Division I state tournament as a senior at Desert Vista High School, where he was classmates with MU men's basketball freshman Oso Ighodaro.

UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will have two weeks off before heading to La Quinta, California on Feb. 14-17 for The Prestige at PGA West – Norman Course. MU's individual competitors will also compete at Coral Mountain Golf Club in a separate individual event.

Keep up with the Marquette men's golf program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteMGolf) and Instagram (@MarquetteMGolf) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteMGolf).