LOST PINES, Texas – Coming off a season-best-tying finish last weekend, the FGCU men's golf team travels deep into the heart of Texas to tee it up in the Jim West Intercollegiate hosted by Texas State beginning Monday and concluding Tuesday from Wolfdancer Golf Club.
 
The 15-team field will play 36 holes throughout the day on Monday and a final 18 holes on Tuesday. Live scoring will be available by following the link accompanying this release, by clicking here or by visiting FGCUAthletics.com. Additionally, updates will be posted on Twitter by following @FGCU_MGolf, with recaps and results at FGCUAthletics.com following each day of competition.
 
Last year FGCU finished in 12th place out of 14 teams at the invite as the Eagles moved up one position after the first day's 36 holes. Junior Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) is the only returning member of the FGCU lineup this week who played in the tournament last year, and he posted rounds of 75-73-77 to finish in a tie for 56th overall. Two years ago at the same event the Eagles finished 7th out of 11 teams.
 
The 15 teams will be playing a new course this year as previously the tournament was held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. The layout at Wolfdancer GC is a par 72 design which plays to 7,205 yards and most of the course resembles prairie land. The Arthur Hills design features vast elevation changes and heavily-wooded areas.
 
The tournament features four teams ranked in the top 100 in the nation, paced by No. 42 Sam Houston State. FGCU will commence action on Monday at 8:30 a.m. (local, 9:30 Eastern) with a shotgun start on holes 10-13 as the Eagles will be paired with players from Central Arkansas, Arkansas-Little Rock and Louisiana-Monroe.
 
FGCU head coach Eric Booker will utilize nearly the same lineup as last weekend when the Eagles finished in 4th place at the FAU Slomin Autism Championship. The lone exception is in the fourth position in his lineup as sophomore Keaton Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS) who will be making his third appearance this spring.
 
1) Jake Sherwin
2) Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program)
3) Casper Howells (London, England/Bradfield College)
4) Keaton Jones
5) Anthony Quintessenza (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northside Christian HS)
 
Following an impressive career-best tie for 2nd finish at the FAU Slomin Autism Championship, Sherwin was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Golfer of the Week for the second time in his career on Wednesday.
 
Sherwin posted rounds of 70-70-71 at The Fountains Country Club to finish at 2-under par for the tournament – his third-straight even-par or better tournament finish this spring. His 211 total was just three shy of claiming medalist honors from a field of 20 teams and 113 players.
 
Schultz is in the No. 2 spot for the second-straight week after posting a three-round total of 226, shooting a 74 in the final round at FAU. Schultz fought back after shooting a first-round 80 with a 1-over 72 in the second round. The junior's best finish of the year came at the Grub Mart Intercollegiate when he finished in a tie for 10th with rounds of 75-71-72.
 
Howells closed out the Eagles' scoring for the tournament last weekend with a 229 total and final-round 76. The sophomore's best finish this year was 3rd at Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic as he posted back-to-back rounds of 69 following an opening-round 75 to post a 2-under 213.
 
Jones will be making his third appearance this spring with his last outing resulting in a tie for 41st individually at the Grub Mart Intercollegiate. The sophomore has a scoring average of 78.36 with his best round coming in the second round with a 71 at the Talis Park Challenge.
 
Quintessenza made his spring debut last weekend and posted a three-round total of 226 with a final round 76. The freshman finished third best on the team and tallied his career-best round at FGCU with a 73 in the second round.
 
The Jim West Intercollegiate is the last of four tournaments the Eagles will play in a four-week span leading up to the A-Sun Championship Apr. 19-21 in Braselton, Ga.
 
Complete Field (Golfweek Rankings)
42 Sam Houston State
71 Saint Mary's
99 Wichita State
100 Texas State
108 UT Arlington
121 Stephen F. Austin
144 Rice
146 Louisiana-Monroe
150 Houston Baptist
161 FGCU
173 Central Arkansas
175 Arkansas-Little Rock
205 Oral Roberts
263 UT Pan American
NR Abilene Christian
 
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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.