Hunter Eichhorn

ESCANABA — Hunter Eichhorn and his Marquette University golf teammates will play in the NCAA regional tournament May 13-15 in Austin, Tex.

Marquette qualified for its fourth regional appearance by winning the Big East Conference championship April 28 at Callawassie Island G.C. in Okatie, S.C. Marquette is seeded eighth at the regional, its’ highest seed in school history.

The top five teams at each of six regionals advance to the NCAA tournament May 24-29 in Fayetteville, Ark. The top player from non-advancing teams also goes to the regional.

Marquette won its fourth Big East title by 24 strokes, shooting 7-under-par 281. Eichhorn, who won the Big East title last year as a freshman to qualify for the NCAA regional, tied for 14th in the Big East with rounds of 75-78-73-226.

Four teammates finished in the top 10 in the Big East, with Matt Murick in a four-way tie for second at 217. Oliver Farrell was sixth with 218, Tyler Leach was seventh at 219 and Austin Kendziorski tied for eighth with 221.

Garrett Wood of Xavier was the Big East medalist with 216.

Eichhorn led the Golden Eagles in scoring average this season with 71.53 strokes in 30 rounds. He has a two-year average of 71.71 in 62 rounds.

This season his best finish was third place in September at the Marquette Intercollegiate at Erin Hills, Wis., site of the 2017 U.S. Open at six-under 210. He also tied for third (8 under 208) in the Badger Invitational at University Ridge in Madison in September, and tied for third (minus six 207) last month at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix.

Last year, Eichhorn, a 2017 Carney-Nadeau High School graduate, won the men’s Upper Peninsula Golf Association championship.

Eichhorn was unable to qualify for the U.S. Open at a qualifying tournament Wednesday at Wild Rock Golf Course in Wisconsin Dells.

Eichhorn tied for sixth with 4-over-par 76. The field played in torrential rain, intense winds and frigid temperatures. His Marquette teammate, Kendziorski, led the field of four qualifiers for a berth at Pebble Beach next month with 2-under 70.