LORTON, Va. – Paced once again by rounds of 69 and 71 from senior Keaton Jones, the FGCU men's golf team is unofficially tied for 4th place after day one of the 19-team George Mason Patriot Intercollegiate as the Eagles and seven other teams still have a few holes to complete their second rounds prior to Monday's final round.
 
As of the sending of this release, official results from the first and second rounds had not been made available, but Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS) unofficially signed for a 2-under opening round and even-par second round on Sunday and is tied for 3rd place overall, just one shot behind the leaders.
 
The Eagles opened the 36-hole day with a 294 first-round score and currently have a 296 second-round total with Brent Fredericksen (Staten Island, N.Y./Saint Peter's Boys HS) and Casper Howells (London, England/Bradford College) still to play one hole on Monday morning to complete their second round which was suspended due to darkness.
 
FGCU is just three shots out of 3rd place which is currently held by Longwood. Eastern Kentucky leads the tournament as the only team under par at -5, while Old Dominion is at even par overall and in 2nd place.
 
"It was a long day for all the teams trying to beat the sunset," commented head coach Eric Booker. "Keaton is playing well once again, and the whole team is very close to putting together a solid round. It's a work in progress, but I feel they are starting to realize the benefits of possessing the proper playing attitude in competition."
 
In addition to Jones leading the Green and Blue, Andrew Potter (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) fired rounds of 1-over 72 and 2-over 73 and is tied for 22nd overall. Fredericksen is tied for 43rd after carding an opening-round 76 and is +2 with one hole to play in his 2nd round. Casper Howells is +4 on his 2nd round with one hole to play after signing for an opening-round 78, and junior transfer Grant Renegar (McComb, Miss./Meridian CC/Parklane Academy) has opened his tournament with rounds of 77 and 78.
 
FGCU Lineup
T3) Keaton Jones: 69-71: 140 (-2)
T22) Andrew Potter: 72-73: 145 (+3)
T43) Brent Fredericksen: 76-+2 (17): 144 (+2)
T73) Casper Howells: 78-+4 (17): 153 (+11)
T82) Grant Renegar: 77-78: 155 (+13)
 
Patriot Intercollegiate Participants (Golfstat Ranking)
1) 195 Eastern Kentucky: 285-278: 563 (-5)
2) 132 Old Dominion: 287-(-3): E
3) 231 Longwood: 295-(+4): +15
T4) 139 FGCU: 294-(+8): +18
       178 Towson: 292-(+10): +18
       276 Fairleigh Dickinson: 297-289: 586 (+18)
7) 228 George Mason: 295-293: 588 (+20)
T8) 268 St. Bonaventure: 301-291: 592 (+24)
       204 Bethune-Cookman: 294-298: 592 (+24)
10) 179 Appalachian State: 294-299: 593 (+25)
T11) 189 Drexel: 295-(+15): +26
         251 Villanova: 299-295: 594 (+26)
         264 High Point: 296-298: 594 (+26)
14) 256 Saint Joseph's: 296-(+15): +27
15) 253 Bucknell: 307-(+7): +30
16) 241 Binghamton: 307-(+10): +33
17) 239 La Salle: 303-300: 603 (+35)
18) 265 Lafayette: 305-301: 606 (+38)
19) 273 Monmouth: 306-305: 611 (+43)
 
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 and @FGCU_MGolf on Instagram.
 
COACH BOOKER
FGCU is led by 3rd-year 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.