RICHMOND, Ky. – The FGCU men's golf team commences its 2016-17 season this weekend at the EKU Intercollegiate Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18, at the University Club at Arlington.
 
The 54-hole event – the first tournament Eastern Kentucky has hosted since 2007 – will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for 36 continuous holes before concluding with tee times starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
 
Entering his third season at the helm of the Eagles – and second full year – FGCU head coach Eric Booker will utilize the following five-man lineup:
 
Keaton Jones
Andrew Potter
Casper Howells
Michael Keymont
Anthony Quintessenza
 
Four of the five who will be teeing it up this weekend have competed for the Eagles previously, with lone exception being junior transfer Keymont (Orlando, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Timber Creek HS).
 
The quintet will be battling a deep field of 18 total teams, including FGCU and EKU. FGCU enters the season at 139 in the Golfstat rankings, representing the third-highest team in the field this weekend behind only UT Martin (118) and Eastern Michigan (120). A complete list of participating teams is at the end of this release.
 
The teams will be playing the par-70, 6,623-yard University Club at Arlington. The rolling-hills layout features tree-lined fairways and bent grass greens with limited water hazards until the closing holes. With just two par-5s on the course – the 2nd and 12th – a premium will likely be placed on the short game and approach shots, especially early on as six of the first seven par-4s – through hole 10 – play less than 400 yards, but each of the final five par-4s are longer than 400.
 
Of the golfers in the FGCU lineup, Potter (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) posted the lowest scoring average last year with a 76.50, but came on strong near the end of the season. It started in the spring with a 5-under 66 as part of the FAU Slomin Autism Championship and concluded with a 1-under 71 at the Atlantic Sun Championship. Without three rounds in the 80s in his only fall tournament, Potter had a 74.30 scoring average in 2015-16 as a freshman.
 
Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS), Quintessenza (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northside Christian HS) and Howells (London, England/Bradford College) all finished last year with similar scoring averages, but Jones and Howells only competed in two tournaments, while Quintessenza appeared in six.
 
Keymont joins the Eagles after two years at Eastern Florida State College. He concluded his stint ranked 30th in the nation by Golfstat for all junior college golfers at the Division-I level following a 74.51 scoring average as a sophomore. He helped lead Eastern Florida State to the NJCAA D-I District 4 title for the third time in four years with a 222 total to tie for 12th at the tournament, and also shot a four-round 289 at the national championship as Eastern Florida State tied for 4th.
 
FGCU lost two key seniors to graduation last May in Jake Sherwin and Austin Schultz, but Schultz has since made the transition to assistant coach. The 2016 ASUN Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Second Team member a year ago, Schultz was one shot shy of the medalist title at the ASUN Championship in April. The duo led the Eagles in scoring average last year with Schultz at 74.19 and Sherwin at 74.30.
 
Following action at the EKU Intercollegiate, the Eagles will head to George Mason University's Patriot Intercollegiate next Sunday and Monday, Sept. 25-26, for 54 holes at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, Va.
 
EKU Intercollegiate Participating Teams (Golfstat Ranking)
118 UT Martin
120 Eastern Michigan
139 FGCU
144 Murray State
145 Cleveland State
157 Dayton
164 Marshall
195 Eastern Kentucky
197 Ohio
200 Mercer
209 Youngstown State
219 Morehead State
228 George Mason                                   
231 Longwood
238 SIU Edwardsville
258 Tennessee State
289 Eastern Illinois
N/A Northern Kentucky
 
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 and @FGCU_MGolf on Instagram.
 
COACH BOOKER
FGCU is led by 3rd-year 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.