BRASELTON, Ga. – The FGCU men's golf team is in 5th place after day one and two rounds of action at the ASUN Championship Sunday from The Legends Course at Chateau Elan.
 
The Eagles (595) opened with a first-round 301 before turning things around with a second-round 294 to sit nine shots back of 4th-place #44 Jacksonville (586). Making his ASUN Championship debut, senior Casper Howells led the Green and Blue in both rounds, opening with a 2-over 74 before posting an even-par 72 in the afternoon and is tied for 11th overall.
 
In search of its second-straight ASUN Championship title, #40 Kennesaw State leads the seven-team tournament with a two-round 568 total, 10 shots clear of both #33 Lipscomb and #35 North Florida entering Monday's final round.
 
The three-round ASUN Championship was originally scheduled to be contested over three days, but due to inclement weather expected on Tuesday, tournament officials elected on Saturday to play 36 holes on Sunday with the final round to be contested on Monday.
 
"It was a long day, but the guys hung in there and made an important improvement in the second round," said FGCU head coach Eric Booker. "Our goal is to post a sub-par round tomorrow to move up the leaderboard, and I think we're prepared to do that."
 
Howells (London, England/Bradford College) is one of three Eagles in the top-16 overall as both Andrew Potter and Grant Renegar are tied for 16th following identical rounds of 76-73. ASUN All-Freshman Team member Doug Smith opened with a 75 – FGCU's second-best first round – but posted a 79 in the second round. Keaton Jones rounded out the scoring for the Eagles with rounds of 79-76.
 
Howells had an up-and-down first round starting off the 10th tee and going out in 38 before coming in with an even-par 36 thanks to a pair of birdies and bogeys. His second round was relatively clean as he started on the 1st hole and made just one bogey to go out in 37 before starting his back 9 birdie-birdie-bogey and making six-straight pars to close out the even-par round.
 
Sophomore Potter (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) would have had a solid opening round if not for a triple bogey on the par-4 2nd hole. But he responded and moved up seven spots on the leaderboard thanks to a second round which featured three birdies and four bogeys.
 
Knotted with Potter at 149 overall is Renegar (McComb, Miss./Meridian CC/Parklane Academy), who posted nothing worse than a bogey all day, and in the opening round recorded sides of 38-38 but made just one birdie. That changed in the second round as the junior transfer rolled in four birdies against five bogeys.
 
Smith (Windermere, Fla./Olympia HS) went out in 36 and came back in with a 39 in his opening round, but in the second 18 of the day he struggled to get anything to fall as he didn't have a birdie on his card. Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS) had a pair of double bogeys in the first round which unfortunately got him off to a slow start, but had nothing worse than a bogey in the second round as he finished three strokes better.
 
FGCU Lineup
T-11) Casper Howells: 74-72: 146 (+2)
T-16) Andrew Potter: 76-73: 149 (+5)
T-16) Grant Renegar: 76-73: 149 (+5)
T-26) Doug Smith: 75-79: 154 (+10)
28) Keaton Jones: 79-76: 155 (+11)
 
Complete Field (Golfstat Rankings)
1) 40 Kennesaw State: 285-283: 568 (-8)
T-2) 35 North Florida: 286-292: 578 (+2)
T-2) 33 Lipscomb: 288-290: 578 (+2)
4) 44 Jacksonville: 296-290: 586 (+10)
5) 173 FGCU: 301-294: 595 (+19)
6) 240 USC Upstate: 305-304: 609 (+33)
7) 236 Stetson: 313-311: 624 (+48)
 
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.