NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Blake Biggs shot a 73 to lead the FGCU men's golf team to an 8th-place showing following the first round at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic.
 
As a team the Eagles shot a 303 total, three behind seventh-place Davidson and only 10 shots shy of fifth-place Ball State with still two rounds remaining. Notre Dame leads the eight-team tournament after a first-round 285 as the Irish hold a one-shot lead over Long Beach State.
 
Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) made the turn at -1 after a couple bogeys and birdies on holes 2, 5 and 8, and quickly got his round to 2-under with a birdie on the short par-5 10th. However, he made only one birdie coming in and with three bogeys and a double-bogey carded his 2-over round.
 
Sophomore Casper Howells (London, England/Bradfield College) was 5-over after 12 holes, but made a birdie on 13 and 15 to move to 3-over before a bogey on the par-4 18th forced him to finish with a 75. Following a triple bogey on his third hole of the day, Jordan Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School) played mostly level the rest of the day as the sophomore carded a 78.
 
Playing in his first tournament for FGCU since transferring from Florida Southern College, Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Lee Virtual Instructional Program) was 2-under following a birdie on the par-5 5th and made the turn at -1, but struggled on the back en route to a 78. Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) rounded out the Green and Blue scoring with a 79 as the junior did not card a birdie on his day.
 
Sunday's first round was played at the Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, while Monday's second round will be contested at Lost Dunes Golf Club and have tee times ranging from 11:10 a.m. until 1:50 p.m. as the teams will once again play just one round. The squads will then return to Warren Golf Course on Tuesday for the final round, which will feature tee times moved up to start at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring for the entire invite can be accessed by clicking on the accompanying link or visiting Golfstat.com.
 
The relatively new Warren Golf Course is a par-71 layout which spans 7,023 yards and opened in 2000 on 250 wooded acres on the northeast edge of the Notre Dame campus. There are 88 reshaped and enhanced bunkers scattered along the course, and water comes into play on six of the holes.
 
Lost Dunes Golf Club is also a par-71 and plays just slightly shorter at 6,905 yards from the championship tees. The private course opened in 1999 and has won several awards, most notably in 2007-08 when it was named the 63rd Greatest Golf Course in America by Golf Digest.
 
Following the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic, FGCU will have a two-week break from competitive action before returning to the Midwest to compete in the Sagamore Fall Preview hosted by Ball State in Noblesville, Ind., Oct. 13-14.
 
FGCU COMPETITORS
Blake Biggs – 73
Casper Howells – 75
Jordan Miller – 77
Austin Schultz – 78
Jake Sherwin – 79
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Standings Based Off Final 2013-14 Golfstat Rankings)
1) #101 Notre Dame – 285
2) #120 Long Beach State – 286
3) #130 Michigan State – 288
4) #148 Loyola (Md.) – 289
5) #136 Ball State – 293
6) #95 Lamar – 294
7) #104 Davidson – 300
8) #119 FGCU - 303
 
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