SEASIDE, Calif. – The FGCU men's golf team concluded its season-opening tournament Tuesday in 12th place at the Saint Mary's Invitational as the Eagles shot a 302 and finished with a three-round total of 898. Leading the way for the Green and Blue in the final round was Casper Howells with an even-par 72.
 
San Diego edged host Saint Mary's by one stroke to win the 16-team invite with an even-par total of 864. After shooting an opening-round 302 at Bayonet Golf Course, the Eagles posted a team score of 294 in the second round at the accompanying Black Horse Golf Course before returning to Bayonet for the final round. FGCU finished seven shots clear of Boise State, just one shot behind Cal Poly and four shy of 10th-place UC Davis.
 
Sophomore Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) entered the final round tied for second overall at -5, but carded a final-round 77 (+5) to finish the tournament in solo 12th place at even par – seven shots better than any other FGCU competitor. At the same event last year, Sherwin finished tied for 10th at +3.
 
Howells (London, England/Bradfield College) completed his gradual improvement after shooting an opening-round 80 and second-round 77 on Monday. Howells carded three birdies and three bogeys during his final round, with all three of the birdies coming on the back as he shot a 34 on the closing 9 holes. For his efforts, Howells moved all the way up from a tie for 80th following the first two rounds to conclude the invite in a tie for 56th place.
 
The sophomore started his day on the par-4 11th where he made par before dropping a shot at the difficult par-4 12th, which played as the most challenging hole in the final round as it yielded just one birdie from the field of 92 players. Howells immediately got that shot back with a birdie on the par-4 13th and then birdied the par-5 18th. He made two bogeys on the front (holes 3 and 8) and concluded his round with a birdie on the par-5 10th.
 
"I tried to stay more patient today when I got into trouble than I did yesterday," Howells said after equaling his career-best round. "I just took my medicine and made bogey rather than trying to chase something (a low score) down. I was a bit impatient in the early rounds, but today I took my time. Familiarity with the course also helped. There's a lot of undulations and the greens are hard to read, so it takes some time to figure out the break."
 
Sophomore Jordan Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School) fired the next-best round after Howells for the Eagles, recording a 75 in the final round to conclude his tournament in a tie for 30th overall at +7.
 
Senior Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) shot at final-round 82 despite an opening eagle on the 10th hole, while sophomore Conrad Hahne (Ramsey, Minn./South Fort Myers HS) carded his second straight 78.
 
For the tournament, FGCU finished with 42 total birdies – tied for the fourth most in the field with Loyola Marymount. The Eagles also took advantage of the par-5s as they collectively shot -12 – tied with Saint Mary's for the second best score and only behind the pace of -13 set by UC Davis. However, FGCU made the least amount of pars in the field with just 136 (Fresno State and Santa Clara each posted 165 to lead the tournament).
 
This was the fifth straight year FGCU competed at the Saint Mary's Invitational, coming off a program-best tie for 8th at last year's event. The field included six of the top-100 teams in the nation (based off the most recent Golfstat rankings from the conclusion of the 2013-14 season), with no school ranked worse than No. 185. Five different conferences were represented: the Big 12, Big West, Mountain West, West Coast and Atlantic Sun, with FGCU the only school hailing from east of the Mississippi River.
 
The Eagles will now flock to the Midwest and partake in the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic for three rounds Sept. 28-30. The tournament will be held at two different courses: Warren Golf Course (Notre Dame's home course) in South Bend, Ind., and Lost Dunes Golf Club in Bridgman, Mich.
 
FGCU COMPETITORS
12) Jake Sherwin (72-67-77: 216)
T-30) Jordan Miller (74-74-75: 223)
T-56) Casper Howells (80-77-72: 229)
T-72) Blake Biggs (76-76-82: 234)
T-83) Conrad Hahne (82-78-78: 238)
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Standings Based Off Final 2013-14 Golfstat Rankings)
1) #71 San Diego (293-282-289: 864)
2) #84 Saint Mary's (281-289-295: 865)
3) #87 San Francisco (297-282-292: 871)
4) #165 Fresno State (299-283-295: 877)
5) #96 Santa Clara (295-289-294: 878)
6) #151 Pacific (298-284-297: 879)
7) #120 Long Beach State (296-290-300: 886)
8) #127 Kansas State (290-295-302: 887)
9) #115 Loyola Marymount (289-301-303: 893)
10) #64 UC Davis (304-290-300: 894)
11) #114 Cal Poly (302-298-297: 897)
12) #119 FGCU (302-294-302: 898)
13) #185 Boise State (301-303-301: 905)
14) #175 CSU Northridge (311-300-303: 913)
15) #66 Cal State Fullerton (310-305-300: 915)
16) #167 UC Riverside (303-309-307: 919)
 
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