BRIDGMAN, Mich. – Spearheaded by a 2-under 69 from Casper Howells, the FGCU men's golf team posted a 14-shot improvement from Sunday's first round to Monday's second round as the Eagles remained in 8th place but made up significant ground at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic.
 
FGCU shot a 289 at Lost Dunes Golf Club, easily its lowest team score of the still-young season which is only five rounds old. The Eagles (592 two-round total) are now just three shots behind 7th-place Lamar (589) and only seven strokes out of third place, which is currently held by Davidson (585). Michigan State leads the eight-tournament with a 572 total, including Monday's 284. Only the Spartans and Davidson (285) had better second rounds than FGCU.
 
Howells (London, England/Bradfield College) went out in 33 as he got his round off to a great start by making birdie on the short par-4 1st. A bogey on the 3rd set him back, but only momentarily as he birdied the 4th and 7th to make the turn at -2. He immediately moved to -3 with another birdie at the par-5 10th before a bogey on 11, birdie on 13 and another bogey on 14 set him back to -2. The sophomore was in position to go extremely low after an eagle on the 510-yard par-5 15th, but a bogey on 16 and 18 put him back at -2. Despite the closing bogeys, the 69 is Howells career-best round as he is now tied for ninth overall (+2/144) entering Tuesday's final round.
 
Jordan Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian School) made three bogeys and two birdies on his round as the sophomore finished with FGCU's second-best round Monday with a 1-over 72. Miller sits in a tie for 23rd overall at +7 (149). Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) fired his second-straight 73 as after making birdies on holes 2 and 4 he carded four consecutive bogeys before leveling out on the back with three birdies and three bogeys. The senior is now tied for 14th overall with a two-day 146.
 
Playing in his first tournament for FGCU since transferring from Florida Southern College, Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Lee Virtual Instructional Program) recorded a 4-over 75 as the sophomore made two birdies on the day – the 1st hole and the par-4 12th. Rounding out the Eagles' scoring was Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) as the junior managed just one birdie en route to a second-round 76.
 
Sunday's first round was played at the Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, and the teams will return there 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 layout 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
T9) Casper Howells (75-69/144)
T14) Blake Biggs (73-73/146)
T23) Jordan Miller (77-72/149)
T37) Austin Schultz (78-75/153)
T43) Jake Sherwin (79-76/155)
 
COMPLETE FIELD (Standings Based Off Final 2013-14 Golfstat Rankings)
1) #130 Michigan State (288-284/572)
2) #120 Long Beach State (286-293/579)
3) #104 Davidson (300-285/585)
4) #136 Ball State (293-293/586)
5) #101 Notre Dame (285-302/587)
6) #148 Loyola (Md.) (289-299/588)
7) #95 Lamar (294-295/589)
8) #119 FGCU (303-289/592)
 
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