LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Junior Jake Sherwin posted his fourth sub-par round of the spring with a 1-under 70 while sophomore Jordan Miller carded a 1-over 72 to lead the FGCU men's golf team Friday as the Eagles are in 9th place with a 295 total following the opening-round of the rain-altered FAU Slomin Autism Championship at The Fountains Country Club.
 
UCF leads the 20-team field – the largest FGCU has faced this year – following a 279 first-round total. The round, which featured two separate rain delays, was ultimately rained out with four teams still on the course. That quartet will conclude the round on Saturday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Round two for the Eagles will get underway with tee times starting at 9:20 a.m.
 
Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) continued his hot play as now five of his first seven rounds this spring have been played at even par or better. He's tied for 5th overall in the field of more than 110 golfers as he opened his round with a birdie on the par-5, 522-yard 1st before making a bogey on the par-4 2nd and bouncing back with a birdie on the par-5, 548-yard 3rd. From there, Sherwin made 15 straight pars, the most in the field for the opening round.
 
Like Sherwin, Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian HS) opened his round birdie-bogey before rolling in birdies on holes 4, 8 and 11 to move his scorecard to 2-under heading into the par-4 13th. However, he bogeyed 13, 15 and 17 coming in and signed for his third round of 72 or better this spring.
 
"We had an unusual day with two rain delays which brought high winds," stated FGCU head coach Eric Booker.  "We seem to be having a pattern of starting out slowly then rallying over the second nine holes. Jake continues to play well, but unfortunately the other guys aren't quite as consistent right now. I'm hopeful going into the second and third rounds, and I'm proud of the players for not giving up as they worked through their individual rounds today."
 
Unfortunately for the Eagles, no one aside from Sherwin and Miller was able to get going on Friday. After going out in 43, Casper Howells (London, England/Bradfield College) settled down on the back and came in with a 33 to card a 76.
 
Making his spring debut, freshman Anthony Quintessenza (St. Petersburg, Fla./Northside Christian HS) was one hole away from a solid round as he recorded a 77, but an 8 on the par-4, 413-yard 10th put a dent in his round which otherwise featured four bogeys and a pair of birdies.
 
Rounding out the Green and Blue scoring for the day was Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program), who uncharacteristically struggled en route to an 80 – his worst score of the season.
 
The Eagles are competing in the Slomin Autism Championship for the third-straight year and posted a 7th-place finish last year and a tie for 2nd place two years ago. The teams are playing the North Course – the longest of three Fountains CC courses at 6,876 yards – as the layout plays to a par 71 and is known for its large greens but also abundant water.
 
Live scoring will be available by following the link accompanying this release, by clicking here or by visiting FGCUAthletics.com. Additionally, updates will also be posted on Twitter by following @FGCU_MGolf, with recaps and results following each day of competition. Results for round one will be available shortly after completion of the round Saturday morning.
 
FGCU Individual Results
T5) Jake Sherwin: 70
T23) Jordan Miller: 72
T68) Casper Howells: 76
T77) Anthony Quintessenza: 77
T97) Austin Schultz: 80
 
Complete Field (Golfweek Rankings)
1) #96 UCF: 279
2) #175 Northern Illinois: 291
T3) #205 Arkansas State: 292
T3) #154 Xavier: 292
T3) #212 Stetson: 292
6) #135 Hartford: 293
T7) #201 Rhode Island: 294
T7) #207 Georgetown: 294
9) #162 FGCU: 295
T10) #184 DePaul: 296
T10) #216 Murray State: 296
T12) #119 Eastern Michigan: 299
T12) #105 Jacksonville State: 299
14) #191 St. John's: 303
15) #242 Morehead State: 306
16) #136 Middle Tennessee State
 
Teams That Did Not Finish
#53 East Carolina 
#148 Connecticut
#195 FAU
#236 Bethune-Cookman
 
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.
 
COACH BOOKER
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.
 
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 visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.