LELAND, N.C. – On the strength of a final-round 67, Casper Howells garnered his first career medalist honor as the FGCU men's golf team continued its great spring play with a 2nd-place showing on Monday at Appalachian State's Cape Fear National Intercollegiate.
 
Howells (London, England/Bradford College) was two shots better than anyone else in the 95-player field on Monday with his season-best 5-under performance. Combined with rounds of 74 and 79 during Sunday's opening rounds, Howells finished with a 220 (+4) total amidst cool, damp and windy conditions over the two days. He tied with Jacksonville State's Camilo Aguado and La Salle's P.J. Acierno at 220, but earned the medalist title due to his low final round which was five shots better than Aguado's and Acierno's even-par 72s.
 
The Eagles had three players finish in the top 10, with freshman Doug Smith posting a solo 4th-place showing at 222 (+6) and sophomore Andrew Potter tying for 8th with a 223 total (+7). FGCU shot a tournament-low 283 (-5) in the final round – seven shots better than any other round turned in by the 15 teams all week.
 
FGCU (311-304-283: 898) finished just eight shots behind tournament winner Jacksonville State (305-295-290: 890) and seven shots clear of host and 3rd place Appalachian State. The Green and Blue's 283 total is tied for the 2nd-best for the Eagles under third-year head coach Eric Booker, bested only by a 281 in the spring of 2016.
 
"I'm really proud of the guys and how well they played during the final round. In the last few events we've been slow out of the gate but strong to finish," stated Booker, whose team has now finished inside the top-3 in each of its past four tournaments. "I'm really happy for Casper as well, shooting a career-best 67 on his way to medalist honors. He really minimized his mistakes in tough conditions and took advantage all day by putting himself in great spots."
 
Howells made six birdies and only one bogey in the final round as he made his way around the 6,850-yard Cape Fear National layout. Howells led the field in par-4 scoring with a stroke average of 3.93 (-2). The senior made the 2nd-most birdies in the field with 12 over the three rounds as he bettered his previous season- and career-best round of 68 set 10 days ago at the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate en route to a then-career-best 2nd-place finish.
 
In addition to Howells' stellar final round, Potter (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) was the only other player in the field on Monday to shoot in the 60s with a 3-under 69. Potter made four birdies and just one bogey as, like Howells, he kept an extremely clean scorecard. The local Southwest Florida product posted his second top-10 finish of the year after opening with rounds of 81 and 73, and led the field in par-5 scoring average at 4.67 (-4).
 
Smith (Windermere, Fla./Olympia HS) secured his second-straight top-10 showing with the tie for 4th after posting rounds of 75-71-76. The freshman went out in 37 before coming in with a 39 in the final round. Smith did most of his work against the field in the opening two rounds, including the 2nd-round 1-under 71 which was tied for the lowest in the field and featured FGCU's lone eagle of the tournament on the par-5 15th.
 
Rounding out the FGCU scoring for the week were Michael Keymont (Orlando, Fla./Eastern Florida State/Timber Creek HS) and Grant Renegar (McComb, Miss./Meridian CC/Parklane Academy). Keymont shot rounds of 81-82-73 (236), while Renegar carded rounds of 85-81-74 (240) as both players made huge improvements in the final round to help with FGCU's jump up the leaderboard.
 
The Eagles will look to keep the momentum going when they return to action at FAU's Slomin Autism Championship at The Fountains Country Club in Lake Worth, Fla., this weekend, Mar. 24-26.
 
FGCU LINEUP
T-1) Casper Howells: 74-79-67: 220 (+4)
4) Doug Smith: 75-71-76: 222 (+6)
T-8) Andrew Potter: 81-73-69: 223 (+7)
T-48) Michael Keymont: 81-82-73: 236 (+20)
T-57) Grant Renegar: 85-81-74: 240 (+24)
 
TOURNAMENT FIELD (Golfstat Ranking)
1) 81 Jacksonville State: 305-295-290: 890 (+26)
2) 183 FGCU: 311-304-283: 898 (+34)
3) 226 Appalachian State: 304-304-297: 905 (+41)
T-4) 148 UT Arlington: 306-297-307: 910 (+46)
T-4) N/A USC Beaufort: 314-301-295: 910 (+46)
6) N/A Newberry: 309-310-295: 914 (+50)
7) N/A Limestone: 315-300-300: 915 (+51)
T-8) 191 Longwood: 315-307-299: 921 (+57)
T-8) 229 Fairleigh Dickinson: 315-306-300: 921 (+57)
T-8) 262 La Salle: 311-306-304: 921 (+57)
11) 240 Northern Kentucky: 326-317-306: 949 (+85)
12) 284 North Carolina Central: 330-314-311: 955 (+91)
T-13) 275 Fairfield: 327-320-311: 958 (+94)
T-13) 266 Iona: 321-326-311: 958 (+94)
15) 287 Hampton: 329-338-319: 986 (+122)
16) 290 St. Francis (N.Y.): 348-332-330: 1,010 (+146)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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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.