NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – The FGCU men's golf team continues its fall season Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 14 and 15, when the Eagles compete in the Ball State University Sagamore Fall Preview at Sagamore Golf Club.
 
The teams will play 36 holes on Monday, beginning with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. before concluding the 54-hole tournament Tuesday with 18 holes off split tees on holes 1 and 10 starting at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament on Golfstat.com or by clicking the link at the top of this release.
 
In addition to FGCU and host Ball State, 12 other teams will be competing: Akron, Auburn, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Northern Illinois, Purdue, UAB and Xavier. FGCU and Ball State both competed in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic last month. The field includes four of the top-50 teams in the final Golfstat Rankings from last year in No. 19 UAB, No. 22 Auburn, No. 45 Purdue and No. 50 Louisville.
 
Sagamore Country Club opened for play in 2003, and the course is cut into the wooded terrain of the Indianapolis suburb. Designed by 18-time major championship winner, Jack Nicklaus, the course is a distinguished design. Nicklaus used layouts from previous courses such as Valhalla (2014 PGA Championship) and Medinah (2012 Ryder Cup) in the design of Sagamore. The course includes many par 4's stretched well over 400 yards and two par 3's with a distance over 210 yards. The course is stretched out to 7,173 yards and plays as a par 72.
 
The tournament is loaded with teams coming off of high finishes. Nine of the 14 teams finished in the top-5 of their most recent tournaments. Illinois is coming off of a win at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, while Akron, Ball State and Eastern Michigan all finished inside the top-10 at the Firestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
 
Recently-hired coach Eric Booker will have his first opportunity to guide the Eagles in a tournament this season. A member of the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour (formerly the Nationwide Series) for portions of 17 years from 1990-2007, Booker finished in the top-5 three times in tournaments on the PGA Tour and also played in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Booker played in 62 career events on the PGA Tour, with his best finish being a tie for 3rd at the 1999 Honda Classic.
 
This will be the first time in program history that FGCU will compete in the Sagamore Fall Preview. The Eagles will utilize the lineup below for the tournament in a play five, count four format:
 
Sr. Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS)
So. Casper Howells (London, England/Bradfield College)
Jr. Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program)
So. Keaton Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS)
Fr. Anthony Quintessenza (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northside Christian HS)
 
Both Jones and Quintessenza are playing in their first tournaments of the year. Biggs and Howells have played in the first two tournaments of the year, with Biggs posting a scoring average of 76.17 and Howells a 73.67. Schultz played last week at Notre Dame and averaged a 77.33 through three rounds.

Two weeks ago at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, Howells was in a tie for 24th overall following his first-round 75 (+4), but moved into a tie for 9th following a second-round 69 (-2) and then finished third overall after a final-round 69 (-2). As a team the Eagles finished in 8th place.
 
Following the Sagamore Fall Preview, the team will travel to Kennesaw, Ga., where it will compete in the Pinetree Intercollegiate. The tournament will be held at Pinetree Country Club Oct. 21-22.
 
FGCU LINEUP
Blake Biggs
Casper Howells
Austin Schultz
Keaton Jones
Anthony Quintessenza
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Golfstat rankings from end of 2013-14; first 2014-15 rankings released Oct. 15)
19) UAB
22) Auburn
45) Purdue
50) Louisville
88) Indiana
119) FGCU
122) Kansas
133) Illinois
136) Ball State
137) Eastern Michigan
138) Akron
172) Toledo
199) Xavier
247) Northern Illinois
 
For schedule updates, news and information, visit FGCUAthletics.com. For the latest news and behind-the-scenes access to information, photos and videos, follow @FGCU_MGolf on Twitter.