LUBBOCK, Texas – FGCU's Jake Sherwin continued his first-ever NCAA Championship appearance Friday with a second-round 75 in the Lubbock Regional following a four-and-a-half-hour delay due to overnight storms in West Texas. Despite the four-over round, the junior is just eight shots back of the lead heading into Saturday's final round.
 
Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS), who was one of just 45 at-large individual selections in the field, couldn't get anything going after his tee time was pushed back from 10:01 a.m. local time to 2:31 p.m. He started his round on the par-3 10th and played the back in +1 37 before playing the front in +3 38 as his lone birdie of the round came on his final hole of the day – the 539-yard par-5 9th.
 
"It was a struggle for Jake today mostly with the driver," said FGCU head coach Eric Booker. "Because of the drives he wasn't able to attack some of the pins. We're going to get on the range and work on correcting a few things to get ready for tomorrow."
 
The Southwest Florida product trails a few leaders at -4, including fellow individual competitor Nicolas Platret of Texas-Pan American. Sherwin is one of 10 individuals (minus the potential medalist whose team does not finish in the top-5) in the region vying for a berth in the NCAA Championship finals June 1-3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. There are six different regional sites as part of the initial weekend of the championship – three with 10 individuals and 13 teams, and three with five individuals and 14 teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
 
The junior – FGCU's third such NCAA qualifier in only four years of Division-I postseason eligibility – opened his championship with an even-par 71 in the first round Thursday. The long, challenging Rawls Course of host Texas Tech is playing to an incredible 7,349 yards, and overnight storms made the layout even more difficult on Friday as scoring increased from an average of 71.19 in the first round to 72.56 in the second round.
 
Sherwin will begin his final round on Saturday off the 10th tee at 9:20 a.m. local time (10:20 Eastern) alongside fellow individual competitor Tomascz Anderson from Jacksonville State and Charleston Southern's Nicolas Baena who is competing as part of the team championship.
 
Fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member North Florida – which is ranked 23rd in the nation by Golfstat – earned the A-Sun's automatic berth in the NCAA Championship by winning the A-Sun Tournament. UNF is in 12th place out of 13 teams in the Lubbock Regional after day two, 19 shots out of 5th – a place it needs to reach by the end of Saturday to advance to the finals.
 
In addition to UNF, the A-Sun has another team in the regional round as Kennesaw State – ranked 24th by Golfstat – received an at-large berth and is taking advantage of it so far as the Owls are tied for 4th place at the Chapel Hill Regional at -3. Furthermore, Dawson Armstrong from Lipscomb and Ryan Cornfield from USC Upstate are representing the A-Sun as individuals as well in Chapel Hill. Armstrong has shot consecutive even-par rounds of 72 and is eight off the lead, while Cornfield shot a second-round 70 to move his scorecard to -1 following 36 holes.
 
Lubbock Regional Individual Scores (Golfstat Ranking, If Applicable)
1) Nicolas Platret, UT-Pan American: 66-72: 138 (-4) 
T-2) Matt Mabrey, Tulsa: 70-70: 140 (-2)
T-2) #80 Victor Lange, Louisiana Tech: 70-70: 140 (-2)
4) #100 David Snyder, Kentucky: 66-75: 141 (-1)
5) #72 Adria Arnaus, Texas A&M: 72-70: 142 (E)
6) Martin Simonsen, UTEP: 71-73: 143 (+1)
7) Greg Yates, Texas A&M: 69-75: 144 (+2)
8) #90 Tyler McDaniel, Kentucky: 73-72: 145 (+3)
T-9) Jake Sherwin, FGCU: 71-75: 146 (+4)
T-9) #38 Tomasz Anderson, Jacksonville State: 75-71: 146 (+4)
 
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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.