FORT MYERS, Fla. – Battling windy conditions for much of the morning and early afternoon, the FGCU women's golf team capped off the weekend with a fifth-place finish at the three-day Eagle Invitational held at Stonybrook Golf Club.
 
The Eagles entered the day in fourth place and were only two shots out of second but failed to make up any ground as Mercer held on to its 13-shot lead to win by nine, while Toledo turned in the round of the afternoon with an 8-over-par 296 to finish second. Elon placed third after carding a team total of 306 on Sunday, and Xavier jumped the Green and Blue to finish fourth after also shooting a 306. FGCU turned in a score of 309 on the final day and concluded the weekend with a three-day total of 918 to round out the top five.

"Overall, we are a little disappointed with our finish today," said FGCU head coach Sarah Trew. "For some reason, we seemed to compound our mistakes a little bit more this weekend. On a hole we would typically make bogey, we made doubles or triples. We had some solid rounds today, but the team would admit there are some shots they left out there. Anytime you have to count something in the 80s, you're going to drop on the leaderboard. On a positive note, I think the things we need to fix are things that can be corrected quickly. We're going to work hard this week on wedges and short game so we are ready for Jacksonville. We're really close to putting together some low rounds."
 
A pair of Eagles turned in top-20 finishes following the final day of competition as Mei Khuan Yong (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/S.M.K Cochrane) finished tied for 11th while freshman Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School) tied for 20th. Entering the day in tied for second with a 1-over-par total, Yong couldn't recover after double bogeying her first two holes of the day and carded an 82, good for a three-day total of 227. Marck-Sherk remained consistent throughout the weekend as she turned in a three-day total of 229 (77-75-77).
 
On Sunday, the Green and Blue were led by a pair of 3-over-par 75's from Megan Blonien (Altus, Okla./Altus High School/Oklahoma State) and Madison Easterbrook (Burlington, Ontario/Aldershot High School), who finished the tournament tied for 28th and tied for 44th, respectively. After a double bogey on her first hole of the day, Blonien played her next eight holes at 3-under-par but carded a bogey on the 11th and a triple on the 13th en route to her weekend total of 231. After a slow start to the weekend, Easterbrook moved 12 spots up the leaderboard as she matched Blonien's team-best total in the final round, giving her a score of 237 for the weekend.
 
Like Yong, Sara Detlefsen (Eagen, Minn./Minnesota Virtual Academy) doubled bogeyed her first two holes of the day and couldn't respond as she shot an 83 en route to her tournament total of 239.
 
Playing as individuals, Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner High School) and Ashley Kimbrough (Clearwater, Fla./Indian Rocks Christian School) turned in final-round scores of 82 and 83, respectively, to finish with three-day totals of 244 and 248. Kimbrough provided the highlight of the day for FGCU as she eagled the par-4 third hole, her final hole of the tournament, by holing out from the fairway.
 
Following its fifth-place finish at the Eagle Invitational, FGCU will take part in Jacksonville's Amelia Island Collegiate at Amelia National Golf Club in Fernandina Beach, Fla. from Feb. 22-23. The two-day event will feature three rounds at the coastal course.
 
TEAM RESULTS

1	Mercer	+30	301	293	300	894
2	Toledo	+39	302	305	296	903
3	Elon	+50	306	302	306	914
4	Xavier	+52	305	305	306	916
5	FGCU	+54	303	306	309	918
6	Central Arkansas	+56	314	304	302	920
7	Southern Illinois	+60	310	304	310	924
	Arkansas State	+60	310	302	312	924
9	Ball State	+66	311	313	306	930
10	Stephen F. Austin	+72	318	311	307	936
11	McNeese	+81	318	316	311	945
12	FAU	+85	318	320	311	949
13	Drake	+96	313	330	317	960
14	Western Illinois	+110	333	317	324	974
15	USC Upstate	+120	329	332	323	984

 
FGCU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

T11	Mei Khuan Yong	+11	72	73	82	227
T20	Madeline Marck-Sherk	+13	77	75	77	229
T28	Megan Blonien	+15	78	78	75	231
T44	Madison Easterbrook	+21	82	80	75	237
T50	Sara Detlefsen	+23	76	80	83	239
62	Kelsy Holbert	+28	80	82	82	244
T73	Ashley Kimbrough	+32	85	80	83	248

 
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU women's golf program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_WGolf and on Facebook at /FGCUWGolf.        
 
SARAH TREW
Head coach Sarah Trew is her fifth season at the helm of the FGCU women's golf team. Trew took over in 2011 and has since guided the Eagles to the program's best-ever finish in the Atlantic Sun Tournament and to 20+ top-10 finishes. A year ago, Trew led the team to several records on and off the course. The 2013-14 squad set a new single-season scoring record with a team average of 307.88, while also setting a new benchmark academically. The team earned a team grade point average of 3.8 in the fall semester and set the FGCU team record with a 3.92 during the spring of 2014. The spring of 2015 saw the Eagles again take third place at the A-Sun Championship, and recording their best team score of the season.