NAPLES, Fla. – For the first time in nearly five months, the FGCU men's golf team returns to competitive action when the Eagles tee off the spring portion of their 2014-15 season on Sunday and Monday at the Ball State University-hosted Talis Park Challenge at Talis Park Golf Club.
 
The 54-hole event will begin on Sunday, Mar. 15, with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start as the field will play 36 holes before the tournament concludes with 18 holes on Monday, Mar. 16, following another 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring will be available at birdiefire.com, and updates will also be posted on Twitter @FGCU_MGolf throughout the tournament.
 
A total of 15 teams will compete in the second-year tournament, including four ranked in the top 100 of the Golfweek Rankings. The field is led by Vanderbilt and LSU, currently ranked fifth and sixth in the nation, respectively. Vanderbilt won last year's event and has four players with a 73 stroke average or lower this year. LSU has two tournament wins this season and has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation.
Other competing teams in addition to FGCU and Ball State include: Akron, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wichita State and Xavier.
 
Designed by Greg Norman and Pete Dye, Talis Park has been consistently ranked by Golf Digest as one of the top 20 courses in Florida. For the tournament, the course will be shortened to 6,891 yards and will be played at a par of 71. The course layout was designed to resemble that of the terrain of an Italian farmland.
FGCU finished fourth in last year's edition, trailing only the then nationally-ranked Vanderbilt, Wichita State and Austin Peay as the Eagles shot a three-round 902 total, just two shots shy of third place. The Eagles also impressed by finishing ahead of such notable schools as Notre Dame, Indiana and Cincinnati.
 
Then-sophomore Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) finished third individually after posting scores of 73-72-72 (+1), and was accompanied near the top of the leaderboard by then-junior Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) who finished 17th with rounds of 72-75-79 (+10).
 
Sherwin led the Eagles in the fall with a scoring average of 74.25 over the course of 12 rounds. Following closely behind him was sophomore Jordan Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian HS) who trailed only by a stroke with the same number of rounds carded. Both players have gone low this season already with Sherwin having shot a 67 and Miller recording a 69.
 
FGCU concluded the fall season with its best results of the campaign, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in its last two tournaments. The Talis Park Challenge commences a stretch of four tournaments in a four-week span for the Eagles leading up to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Apr. 19-21 in Braselton, Ga.
 
Tournament Field (Golfweek Rankings)
5) Vanderbilt
6) LSU
46) Texas A&M
77) Michigan State
114) Eastern Michigan
118) Wichita State
120) Miami (Ohio)
128) Indiana
131) Toledo
138) Notre Dame
161) Xavier
166) FGCU
167) Ball State
178) Akron
185) Northern Illinois
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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.
 
COACH BOOKER
FGCU is led by coach Eric Booker, 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. He played in 62 career events on the PGA Tour, with his best finish being a tie for 3rd at the 1999 Honda Classic.
 
HELP THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.