BOCA RATON, Fla. – The FGCU men's golf team posted one of the lowest rounds in recent history in Sunday's final round to tie for fourth at the FAU Spring Championship, which was contested at the par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club.
 
The Green and Blue shot 10-under-par 278 as a team Sunday, which was the third-lowest round of the Coach Eric Booker era (since 2015). They finished at a season-best total of 11-under 853 (288-287-278) along with Houston Baptist (295-280-278). UCF, by far the top-ranked team in the field at No. 75 nationally, won the event at 35-under 829 (286-275-268). Host Florida Atlantic finished runner-up at 26-under 838 (286-279-273), while Southern Illinois landed in third at 15-under 849 (290-284-275).
 
The Eagles – sitting at No. 148 in the most-recent GolfStat rankings – bested two teams ranked ahead of them in No. 135 UConn and No. 136 Miami (OH). Both teams tied for seventh at 4-under 860.
 
"That was a much better day from us as a team, but there is definitely plenty of room for improvement," Booker said. "Managing our game continues to be a focus point during the shot-making process. I feel we're still making progress and that's important."
 
Sophomore Cole Castro (Homestead, FL/South Dade HS) eagled a par 4 and shot 5-under on the front 9 to propel into a tie for fifth at 8-under 208 (68-71-69). His career-best score was the lowest three-round total by an Eagle since Edward Figueroa shot 204 at the 2013 Cobra-PUMA Invitational.
 
Senior Andrew Potter (Naples, FL/Community School of Naples) made a blistering seven birdies to shoot a team-best 67 and finish T-16 at 4-under 212 (70-75-67). Sunday's round was the second-lowest of his career and his best score since shooting 66 as an individual at this same event his freshman year.
 
Castro and Potter both tied for second in the entire field in par-5 scoring as each shot 7-under on the longest holes on the course. Potter was also second overall in par-3 scoring at 1-under.
 
True freshman Tate Heintzelman (Granger, IN/Saint Joseph HS) shot a round in the 60's for the second time this season as he vaulted up the leaderboard into a tie for 21st at 1-under 215 (74-72-69).
 
Classmate Chase Bigham (Naples, FL/Seacrest Country Day) finished fourth in the field with 38 pars to help tie for 48th at 5-over 221 (76-72-73), while sophomore J.T. Barker (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS/Northampton CC) landed T-67 at 12-over 228 (79-72-77).
 
UCF's Bobby Bai completed his wire-to-wire medalist performance and finished at 16-under 200 (67-67-66). Teammate Kyler Tate remained solo second at 12-under 204 (70-67-67).
 
FAU SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP – Final Results
March 29-31, 2019 at Boca Raton, Fla.
(par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club)
 

Team Results
1.	#75 UCF	286-275-268=829 (-35)
2.	#168 Florida Atlantic	286-279-273=838 (-26)
3.	#133 Southern Illinois	290-284-275=849 (-15)
T4.	#148 FGCU	288-287-278=853 (-11)
	#228 Houston Baptist	295-280-278=853 (-11)
6.	#177 Bethune-Cookman	282-289-284=855 (-9)
T7.	#135 UConn	296-278-286=860 (-4)
	#136 Miami (OH)	292-285-283=860 (-4)
T9.	#193 George Mason	292-286-286=864 (E)
	#197 Georgetown	295-287-282=864 (E)
11.	#227 Rhode Island	299-290-287=876 (+12)
T12.	#251 Hartford	295-295-294=884 (+20)
	#241 Murray State	306-294-284=884 (+20)
14.	#195 Xavier	316-294-287=897 (+33)
Rankings reflect the latest Golfstat Rankings
Top-5 Individuals
1.	Bobby Bai (UCF)	67-67-66=200 (-16)
2.	Kyler Tate (UCF)	70-67-67=204 (-12)
3.	Sully Zagerman (Florida Atlantic)	69-70-66=205 (-11)
4.	Nicko Martinez (Houston Baptist)	74-65-68=207 (-9)
T5.	Cole Castro (FGCU)	68-71-69=208 (-8)
	Peyton Wilhoit (Southern Illinois)	72-70-66=208 (-8)
	Charlie Nikitas (Miami)	73-68-67=208 (-8)
FGCU Individuals
T5.	Cole Castro	68-71-69=208 (-8)
T16.	Andrew Potter	70-75-67=212 (-4)
T21.	Tate Heintzelman	74-72-69=215 (-1)
T48.	Chase Bigham	76-72-73=221 (+5)
T67.	J.T. Barker	79-72-77=228 (+12)

UP NEXT
FGCU has one more tournament before heading to Braselton, Georgia, for the ASUN Championships (April 21-23). The final tuneup for the Green and Blue will be at the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate April 9-10 in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
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 fourth-year coach Eric Booker, a member of the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour (formerly the Nationwide Series) for portions of 17 years from 1990-07. He has led the Eagles to three wins over the last two years, in addition to a tie for first at Stetson's Legacy Intercollegiate in February 2018. 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 third at the 1999 Honda Classic.
 
#FEEDFGCU
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.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 75 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 35 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours - being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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