BRASELTON, Ga. – Mother nature, this time in the form of hail and heavy rain, affected the Atlantic Sun Men's Golf Championship for the second-straight day as play was suspended Monday afternoon in the first round with all five FGCU competitors still on the course.
 
Play is scheduled to resume from The Legends at Chateau Elan outside Atlanta on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Tournament officials hope to complete all 54 holes, meaning that some FGCU golfers could play more than 40 holes on Tuesday.
 
FGCU is currently in 5th place at +18, 12 shots off the lead held by Kennesaw State (+6). The Eagles' five-man lineup has anywhere from 2-5 holes remaining in their first rounds, with three men still having two par 5s to play.
 
Keaton Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/ St. Mary's HS) is setting the pace for the Green and Blue as he was working on a great round and actually held the individual lead most of the day before a triple bogey on the par-5 5th moved his scorecard to +2 after being even par or under par all round. Jones is tied for 7th overall and will be playing the par-4 6th when action resumes on Tuesday.
 
After a tough start which included bogeys on three of his first six holes, Jordan Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian HS) settled down and parred seven-straight holes before play was stopped. He's +3 on his round with five holes left to contest and is tied for 13th overall.
 
Unfortunately for the Eagles, red-hot Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) is +6 (tied for 23rd), senior Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) is +7 (tied for 31st) and transfer Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program) is +9 (tied for 36th).
 
Only two players in the field were under par when play was suspended, and all but three are over par as the course is playing extremely difficult with the wet conditions.
 
All golfers will be in carts on Tuesday to help accelerate the pace of play. Sunday's opening round was pushed back until Monday due to a tornado warning in the area all day. Monday's schedule called for 36 holes to be played, but only 14 golfers completed 18 holes before play was halted at 12:55 p.m. due to lightning in the area before another tornado warning brought hail and downpour rain.
 
Rain has not only impacted the tournament schedule, but also the course layout as the par-5 10th hole – where each FGCU golfer started his round on Monday – had to be converted into a par 3 due to excessive water in the fairway. The course is now playing at a par 70 instead of a par 72, and has a yardage of 6,626.
 
Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to Twitter by following @FGCU_MGolf for updated information. Additionally, any changes will first be posted to Twitter and then on FGCUAthletics.com.
 
Live scoring throughout the tournament will be available on Golfstat and by clicking here. For a one-stop location for all things related to the A-Sun Championship, fans are encouraged to visit the league's championship central page by clicking here or logging on to AtlanticSun.org.
 
Weather in the Southeast has greatly impacted FGCU and several A-Sun championships over the past few days. FGCU's baseball and softball teams were scheduled to play a three-game series at Kennesaw State over the weekend but were only able to play two of those contests. Additionally, the FGCU men's tennis team had to complete its run to the A-Sun Championship title on Monday morning in Jacksonville as opposed to Sunday as originally scheduled as weather altered not only the men's championship but also the women's.
 
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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.