MOBILE, Ala. – FGCU women's golf carded a team score of 897 after 54 holes at the USA Intercollegiate hosted by South Alabama. The Eagles recorded rounds of 311, 291 and 295 to place sixth among the 10-team field.
 
The Green and Blue tied for ninth place after the first round, but leaped three spots to sixth after a stellar second day. FGCU maintained their sixth place position in the final round with three players carding scores of 73. The Eagles total score of 897 led seventh place finisher South Alabama by 13 points and finished ahead of Alabama State, Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State.
 
Southern Mississippi captured the tournament title with a score of 877 followed by Eastern Kentucky who totaled 878. UAB and Samford took third and fourth with scores of 886 and 895 respectively. Georgia State rounded out the event's top five, carding a score of 895, just one stroke ahead of FGCU.  The Eagles finished with 38 birdies after three days of action, second most in the field trailing only tournament champion Southern Mississippi.

"Today we played pretty solid overall," said head coach Sarah Trew. "I think we finished well considering the position we put ourselves in after round one. I saw some real positives from this team. We dug ourselves a big hole, and I was very impressed by the way we fought back. We were so close to ending up in the top five, but we were a couple of shots short. We will get some good practice in before we leave for Missouri."
 
Lone senior Megan Blonien (Altus, Okla./Altus HS) led the team after three rounds with a score of 77 on day one and a score of 73 on days two and three. During the final day of action, Blonien carded birdies on holes 4, 7 and 16 earning her second plus-one rounds of the tournament. Her seven-over par finished tied her for 12^th place overall.
 
In her second event with the Eagles, freshman Katie Williamson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Archbishop HS) finished one stroke behind team-leader Blonien with a total score of 224 (+8). Williamson carded a 79 in the opening round, but improve seven strokes in the second round for a 72. Her even par score on day two was the lowest by any Eagle in a single round during tournament play. In the final round, Williamson shot a 73 which included four birdies for the Eagles and finished among the top-20 in the field of over 55 golfers.
 
Junior Madison Easterbrook (Burlington, Ontario/Adlershot HS) tied for 20^th overall with scores of 76, 73 and 76 after three rounds. Her total score of 225 (+9) put her just one stroke behind Williamson. Easterbrook shot a double bogey on hole 14, but made up for it with three birdies during her final round of play.
 
Sophomore Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS) finished the weekend with a score of 228. She carded a 79 in the first round, but improved by three strokes in the second round for a score of 73. Marck-Sherk shot birdies on holes 6 and 10 and ended the weekend 12-over par.
 
Fellow sophomore Jean Tyrrell (Leawood, Kan./Blue Valley North HS) ended tournament play with a total score of 232. She consistently bettered her score through each round and carded a round of 73 in the final round.
 
Freshman Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) and sophomore Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) played as individuals in the tournament and recorded final scores of 229 and 235 respectively. Rookie Clark tallied a pair of birdies on holes 3 and 6 on the final day.
 
Alabama State's Chanelle Avaricio earned the individual tournament crown with a three-round score of 215. Avaricio recorded scores of 70, 73 and 72 in the three-day event.
 
The FGCU women's golf team will continue fall tournament play next month with the 2016 Johnie Imes Invitational hosted by Missouri Monday, Oct. 3 and Tuesday, Oct. 4.
 
FGCU LINEUP (star indicates participating as an individual)
T12 – Megan Blonien 77+73+73 = 223 (+7)
T16 – Katie Williamson 79+72+73 = 224 (+8)
T20 – Madison Easterbrook 76+73+76 = 225 (+9)
T32 – Madeline Marck-Sherk 79+73+76 = 228 (+12)
35 – Ailsa Clark 73+79+77 = 229 (+13)*
T37 – Jean Tyrrell 81+78+73 = 232 (+16)
T42 – Kelsy Holbert 76+78+81 = 235 (+19)*
 
COMPLETE FIELD (# = 2015-16 final Golfstat rankings)
1. #134 Southern Mississippi: 295+289+293 = 877 (+13)
2. #107 Eastern Kentucky: 294+295+289 = 878 (+14)
3. #182 UAB: 302+289+295 = 886 (+22)
4. #163 Samford: 304+299+292 = 895 (+31)
5. #171 Georgia State: 298+292+306 = 896 (+32)
6. # 140 Florida Gulf Coast: 311+291+295 = 897 (+33)
7. #169 South Alabama: 301+299+310 = 910 (+46)
8. #199 Alabama State: 307+309+303 = 919 (+55)
9. #191 Stephen F. Austin: 311+307+303 = 921 (+57)
10. #185 McNeese State: 309+323+313 = 945 (+81)
 
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 6th 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.