MOBILE, Ala. – The FGCU women's golf team improved yesterday's score by 20 strokes in the second round of the USA Intercollegiate. As a unit, the Eagles carded 291 (+3) – the third-lowest score of any team on Sunday. FGCU climbed three slots today, and are just 18 shots out of first place and two shots out of the top-five.
After tying for ninth place in the first round, FGCU clawed its way into the sixth place spot of the 10-team field. Southern Miss swapped positions with Eastern Kentucky after shooting 289 in the second round and leads the pack with a plus-eight score of 584. The Colonels trail closely behind recording a score of 589 (+13) after 36 holes. Georgia State (590, +14), UAB (591, +15) and host South Alabama 600 (+24) round out the top five with the Green and Blue closely behind.
"I'm very impressed with the way we battled back today," said head coach
Sarah Trew. "After the first day, we talked about how it's not a bad round that defines you, but how you react to it. I think we showed a lot of intestinal fortitude today with our second round. Every single player was under 80 today, and I feel like we played a lot smarter. This team is extremely talented and they are certainly capable of putting up low numbers day in and day out."
The Eagles showed their ability to go low with 15 birdies in today's round – almost double what they recorded yesterday. FGCU's 23 birdies through two rounds marks the third-most by any team in the tournament field.
Junior
Madison Easterbrook (Burlington, Ontario/Adlershot HS) tops the team for FGCU after two days of play with rounds of 76 and 73. Her one-over par score in today's round included a pair of birdies and moves her to 16
th in the field with a total score of 149 (+5).
Senior
Megan Blonien (Altus, Okla./Altus HS) and sophomore
Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS) also carded one-over par scores of 73 in today's action. Blonien advanced to 22
nd with a total score of 150 (+6), while Marck-Sherk moved to 29
th with a total score of 152 (+8).
Freshman
Katie Williamson (Deerfield Beach/Blue Valley North HS) recorded a team-low 72 in her second round of tournament play. The rookie tallied a team-high five birdies, but was held back from an under-par score by a double bogey on hole six – the same hole sophomore
Jean Tyrrell (Leawood, Kan./Blue Valley North HS) struggled on yesterday. After 36 holes, Williamson is tied for 27
th in the pack with a total score of 151.
Tyrrell improved on her first round by three shots, with a plus-six score of 78 this morning. Hole 6 gave her problems in round one as she shot four-over par. Today she bounced back carding a birdie on the same hole.
Playing as individuals, freshman
Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) and sophomore
Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) carded scores of 79 and 78 on the day respectively. Clark totals 152 (+8) after two days of play, while Holbert combines for 154 (+10).
The Eagles will look to carry the success they had today into tomorrow as they play their final 18-holes of the tournament. The last round in Mobile will began on Monday at 8 a.m. Follow the USA Intercollegiate on Golfstat.com or by clicking
here.
FGCU LINEUP (star indicates participating as an individual)
T16 –
Madison Easterbrook 76+73 = 149 (+5)
T22 –
Megan Blonien 77+73 = 150 (+6)
T27 –
Katie Williamson 79+72 = 151 (+7)
T29 –
Madeline Marck-Sherk 79+73 = 152 (+8)
T29 –
Ailsa Clark 73+79 = 152 (+8)*
T34 –
Kelsy Holbert 76+78 = 154 (+10)*
T46 –
Jean Tyrrell 81+78 = 159 (+15)
COMPLETE FIELD (#=2015-16 final Golfstat Ranking)
1. #134 Southern Mississippi: 295+289 = 584 (+8)
2. #107 Eastern Kentucky: 294+295 = 589 (+13)
3. #171 Georgia State: 298+292 = 590 (+14)
4. #182 UAB: 302+289 = 591 (+15)
5. #169 South Alabama: 301+299 = 600 (+24)
6. #140 FGCU: 311+291 = 602 (+26)
7. #163 Samford: 304+299 = 603 (+27)
8. #199 Alabama State: 307+309 = 616 (+40)
9. #191 Stephen F. Austin: 311+307 = 618 (+42)
10. #185 McNeese State: 309+323 = 632 (+56)
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.
Head coach
Sarah Trew recently is currently in her 6
th season at the helm of the FGCU women's golf team after being named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in 2016. Trew took over in 2011 and has since guided the Eagles to the program's best-ever finish in the ASUN 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 spring of 2015 saw the Eagles again take third place at the A-Sun Championship, and recording their best team score of the season while 2016 again set a new standard. The 2015-16 squad recorded a new program best with a 305.29 average and took a second-place finish at the conference tournament. In that event, the Eagles carded a team score of 290 to set the program's new record and earned the top finish in program history.
