COLUMBIA, Mo. – Led by a top-20 finish from Madeline Marck-Sherk, the FGCU women's golf team wrapped up its season-opening tournament Tuesday with an 8th-place showing at Missouri's Johnie Imes Invitational at The Club at Old Hawthorne.
 
The Eagles shot rounds of 298 and 300 on Tuesday to conclude their three rounds with an 898 (+34) total, just three strokes behind 7th-place Bradley. Host Missouri won the 14-team tournament with an 861 (-3) total – the only team in the field to post a below-par score.
 
Despite the 8th-place finish, the 54-hole performance was the 5th-best in program history. It's just the fifth time all-time the Green and Blue have shot a sub-900 54-hole total. The best performance was an 887 total in the 2013 ASUN Championship.
 
Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach HS) finished in a tie for 19th overall at +5 following rounds of 71 and 76 on Tuesday after an opening-round 74. Natalia Nassar was just behind Marck-Sherk as she recorded rounds of 72 and 74, bouncing back from a 1st-round 77 to finish in a tie for 24th overall at +7.
 
"I am proud of how consistent we were this tournament; we didn't have one score over 80 the entire event," said head coach Sarah Trew. "I saw a lot of positives this week. We had 42 birdies as a team, we stayed patient if we had a bad hole and had one of our lower 54-hole scores in program history.
 
"However we did have some sloppiness we need to clean up before our next tournament," Trew continued. "We had far too many bogeys – especially on easy holes – we had some bogeys with wedges in our hands, and struggled on the finishing holes rounds 1 and 3. But overall, I think it was a decent start considering it was our first event and we have a lot to build on."
 
With inclement weather expected on Wednesday, tournament officials opted to conclude the event on Tuesday with 36 holes as opposed to playing the 2nd round and then wrapping up with the final round on Wednesday as originally scheduled.
 
Marck-Sherk opened her 2nd round on the par-5 9th with a birdie and moved her scorecard to 2-under quickly with another birdie on the par-4 11th. After a pair of bogeys in close succession on holes 14 and 16, she bounced back with a birdie on 17, made the turn and recorded five-straight pars to open the front 9 (her back 9) and wrapped up with bogey-par-birdie finish on holes 6-8 to shoot the 1-under round.
 
The 71 was the junior's eighth par-or-better round of her career, and is tied for her third-lowest career round – bested only by a pair of 70s recorded in the ASUN Championship her freshman year and at the Morehead State Citrus Classic this past spring.
 
Nassar (Floridablanca, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) played the back 9 (her front 9) exceptionally well in the 2nd round, going out in 34 (-2). By herself, Nassar made three birdies – all consecutively from holes 15-17 – while the rest of the FGCU team was responsible for just two birdies on the back 9 in the 2nd round. The freshman remained under par on her round until the par-5 6th where an unfortunate double bogey leveled her scorecard at even par.
 
"I'm really proud of the way both Madeline and Natalia performed this week," Trew added. "It's an extremely tough field, and for Madeline to post another top-20 finish and for Natalia to secure a top-25 finish as a freshman says a lot about both of them."
 
Rounding out the FGCU scoring for the first 18 of the day was Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner HS) with a 77, Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) signing for a 78 and Kate Williamson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy HS) recording a 79.
 
Holbert tied for 32nd overall at +9, thanks in large part to a final-round 74 – which was matched by Nassar for the lowest round by an FGCU golfer. Holbert made four birdies in the final round, while Nassar made three.
 
The Eagles will now have a couple-week break from competitive action before returning to the course Oct. 22-24 at FIU's 40th Annual Pat Bradley Invitational at Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
 
FGCU Lineup
T-19) Madeline Marck-Sherk: 74-71-76: 221 (+5)
T-24) Natalia Nassar: 77-72-74: 223 (+7)
T-32) Kelsy Holbert: 74-77-74: 225 (+9)
T-55) Ailsa Clark: 75-78-79: 232 (+16)
T-59) Kate Williamson: 79-79-76: 234 (+18)
 
Complete Field (2017-18 Golfstat rankings come out Oct. 15)
1) Missouri: 288-284-289: 861 (-3)
2) ETSU: 295-285-287: 867 (+3)
3) Middle Tennessee: 294-292-291: 877 (+13)
4) Kennesaw State: 296-292-290: 878 (+14)
5) North Texas: 295-289-299: 883 (+19)
6) Mercer: 303-285-297: 885 (+21)
7) Bradley: 297-302-296: 895 (+31)
8) FGCU: 300-298-300: 898 (+34)
9) FIU: 298-299-303: 900 (+36)
10) Illinois State: 302-302-302: 906 (+42)
11) UALR: 306-302-300: 908 (+44)
12) Wichita State: 305-303-302: 910 (+46)
13) Missouri State: 302-302-311: 915 (+51)
14) UMKC: 307-308-293: 908 (+58)
 
IRMA RELIEF DONATIONS
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many individuals and families throughout Southwest Florida are still in desperate need of assistance. To aid in those relief efforts, FGCU Athletics will be collecting donations at all Eagle home games for the immediate future. Donation items most needed include: non-perishable food, clothing, household items and first-aid supplies. Additionally, those unable to attend upcoming home games can drop off donations in canisters located in the Alico Arena lobby. All donations will be given to those hardest hit in Lee and Collier counties.
 
COACH TREW
Head coach Sarah Trew is in her 7th 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 ASUN Tournament and to 23 top-5 finishes. 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 ASUN Championship, and recording their best team score of the season while 2016 again set a new standard. In 2015-16, Trew earned her first ASUN Coach of the Year title after the squad recorded a new program best with a 305.29 average and took second-place at the conference tournament – the program's best finish in the event. In the second round of that tournament, the Eagles carded a team score of 290 to set a low-round program record. The 2016-17 Eagles repeated that success with another second-place finish in the ASUN Championship and for the third time since Trew took over, set a new record with a 302.30 stroke average on the season.
 
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.