KENNESAW, Ga. – Led by a career-best 69 from sophomore Jordan Miller, the FGCU men's golf team is in third place after moving up five places on the Pinetree Intercollegiate leaderboard Monday as the Eagles shot a first-round 303 before finishing the day with a second-round 288.
 
FGCU was in eighth place after the first 18 of the day at Pinetree Country Club, but on the strength of Miller's (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School) performance and the season-best showing in the second round recorded the second-best second round of all competing teams.
 
Kennesaw State leads the 11-team field by an incredible 29 shots after the 34th-ranked Owls opened with a tournament-record 276 (-12) in the first round and followed it up with a 281 in the second round. East Carolina is in second place with a two-round 586 total as the 18th-ranked Pirates lead FGCU (591) by just five shots.
 
Miller led FGCU in both rounds on the day, starting with a 74 (+2) in the first round before turning in his best collegiate round in only his sixth career tournament and 17th round. His second round began – like his first round – on hole 10 and he quickly made a birdie on the par-5 11th to move to 1-under. After four-straight pars, Miller carded an eagle on the par-5 16th to push his score to 3-under. The eagle was just the third of the year for FGCU and first of the campaign for Miller.
 
After going out in 34, Miller – who bogeyed 17 – made birdie on holes 2 and 5 to offset a bogey on the par-4 3rd as he came in with a 35. With his two-round 143 total (-1), Miller is in a tie for fifth place overall heading into Tuesday's third, and final, round.
 
"The guys played great today, especially Jordan, and it looks like they are starting to believe in themselves," said coach Eric Booker. "I'm very proud of them and now we need to continue the momentum into tomorrow."
 
In total, four of FGCU's five competitors are in the top-25 overall. In a tie for 21st overall is sophomore Casper Howells (London, England/Bradfield College) and junior Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program) as the duo each shot a two-round total of 150.
 
Howells made just two birdies on his first round en route to a 78, but turned things around nicely in the second round with an even-par 72. He started his round with a flurry, making three straight birdies out of the gate and had his scorecard at -4 following a birdie on 16, but then was +2 with three holes to play before making birdies on 7 and 8 to get back to level.
 
Schultz had a similar day to Howells as he made just one birdie on the first round and recorded a 76. However, like Howells, he rebounded and rolled in four birdies on his second round on his way to a 74.
 
Closely on the heels of both Howells and Schultz is junior Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) who fired a two-round 151. Sherwin also followed the same storyline of second-round improvement as he shot a 78 in the first round with only two birdies before registering a 73 with four birdies in the second round. Sherwin is in a tie for 25th overall.
 
Rounding out the FGCU scoring for the day was senior Sr. Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) who shot a respectable 75 on the first 18 of the day but couldn't get it going in his second 18 as he signed for an 81 and is tie for 43rd overall with a two-round 156.
 
This is the third-straight year that the Eagles have competed in the Pinetree Intercollegiate. The Green and Blue have finished in the top-10 both years, while Kennesaw State has taken the crown in both 2012 and 2013.
 
Pinetree Country Club was built in 1962 and underwent a renovation in 2007 by Bill Bergin. Pinetree is one of the finest private courses in Georgia as the layout weaves through the Georgia pines and around natural brooks and creeks while stretching to a length of 7,108 yards. Pinetree has been host to multiple Georgia State Amateur Championships and hosted the 2014 Georgia Open. Legends such as Arnold Palmer, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Larry Nelson have called Pinetree home.
 
Six of the 11 competing schools finished in the top-5 of their last tournaments, while Cincinnati, East Carolina and fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member Lipscomb took home first place in their respective invites. FGCU, which is playing with a coach for just the second tournament this year, is ahead of six teams that are higher than the Eagles in the Golfstat Rankings.
 
Tuesday's final round will go off split tees on holes 1 and 10 beginning at 8:10 a.m. Live scoring will be available throughout the day on Golfstat.com or by clicking the link at the top of this release.
 
Following the Pinetree Intercollegiate, FGCU will wrap up its fall season by hosting the Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic at Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero, Fla. The 54-hole tournament will take place next Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 27-28, with 36 holes being contested Monday and the final 18 taking place on Tuesday.
 
More information will be announced next week, but the tournament field includes in-state foes Florida State and Florida, with the Seminoles currently ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation in the first Golfstat Rankings of the 2014-15 season released on Oct. 15.

FGCU COMPETITORS
T5) Jordan Miller: 74-69/143
T21) Casper Howells: 78-72/150
T21) Austin Schultz: 76-74/150
T25) Jake Sherwin: 78-73/151
T43) Blake Biggs: 75-81/156
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Golfstat Rankings – Oct. 15)
1) #34 Kennesaw State: 276-281/557
2) #18 East Carolina: 295-291/586
3) #207 FGCU: 303-288/591
4) #187 Liberty: 294-299/593
5) #262 Jacksonville State: 300-295/595
6) #114 Cincinnati: 295-301/596
7) #151 Lipscomb: 298-299/597
8) #89 Miami (Ohio): 297-303/600
9) #163 Akron: 313-293/606
10) #191 Western Carolina: 314-299/613
11) #219 Ohio: 312-313/625
 
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.

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.
 
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.