FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU women's golf team was in the middle of, perhaps, its best season in program history when CoVID-19 ended the team's season, so there's plenty of positives to look back upon despite the disappointment of what could have been.
After shaking off the rust in the first two tournaments of the fall, the Eagles got things going with back-to-back top three finishes in the Jupiter Women's Invitational (10/15) and the Pat Bradley Invitational (10/22). Following that, FGCU won the Mid-American Match Play Challenge to open the spring and followed it up with another title in the Amelia Island College. Then, in their final event before the shutdown, the Green and Blue finished second among a loaded 53-team field in the Kiawah Island Classic on March 3.
In all, FGCU produced a 67-1 head-to-head record in the spring season with its only loss coming to Kiawah Island Classic host and champion, College of Charleston. The Eagles produced a 295.44 team scoring average, which was three shots better than the previous record of 298.88.
Individually, the Eagles were led by several players, highlighted by a pair of all-conference selections in sophomore
Laura Edmonds and freshman
Sarah Edwards.
Ailsa Clark also joined those two in giving FGCU three of the top five single-season scoring averages in program history.
Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay HS) posted a 72.94 scoring average over 18 rounds, leading all players in the ASUN and breaking her own single-season scoring average record. She tallied a pair of second-place finishes in the Johnie Imes Invitational and Jupiter Women's Invitational, and she became just the third player in program history to become a three-time ASUN Golfer of the Week. Along the way, she established a new single-season mark for par-or-better rounds with nine and par-4 (4.0743) and par-5 (4.9041) scoring.
Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay HS), meanwhile, broke the program's freshman scoring average record with a 73.20, toppling a standard set by Edmonds one year prior. Over 15 rounds and five tournaments, she finished with the second-lowest overall single-season scoring average in FGCU's history while producing three top-10 finishes and four top-15 finishes. Furthermore, she had six par-or-better rounds and established a single-season record in par-3 scoring at 3.00 while being named the ASUN's golfer of the week on Feb. 6.
The team's lone senior,
Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS), had a career-best season en route to earning a spot on the ASUN's All-Academic Team. She averaged 74.22 strokes over 18 rounds, which was the fifth-best single-season scoring average in program history. She had three top-15 finishes, including a season-best 11th-place performance in the Jupiter Women's Invitational. She added five par-or-better rounds, which is tied for fifth-most in a single season and produced career-bests in par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring.
Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) finished fourth on the team in scoring average at 75.33 over 15 rounds. She registered a 141 over 36 holes in the Pat Bradley Invitational, which is fifth-best in program history and finished with four par-or-better rounds.
Redshirt freshman
Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) shot a 69-66---135 (-9) over the first two rounds of the Amelia Island Collegiate on Feb. 17. It was just her fourth and fifth rounds as an Eagle, and her second round score is the lowest by score and in relation to par (-6) in program history. She also produced the lowest 36-hole total score by total as well as in relation to par.
In addition to those five, the duo of
Isabella Portokalis and
Sadie Chlapowski also made their debuts in the Green and Blue, while former player
Madeline Marck-Sherk made her debut as an assistant coach.
Chlapowski (St. Petersburg, Fla./Boca Ciega/Daytona State) competed in two tournaments, averaging 77.67 over six rounds.
Portokalis (London, Ontario/Oakridge Secondary School) competed in four events, tallying a 77.58 scoring average over 12 rounds.
Looking ahead, head coach
Sarah Trew will enter her 10th season in 2020-21 with a loaded roster as the team returns everyone, including Clark, who will get another year due to CoVID-19. The Eagles have also signed a pair of JUCO All-Americans, Josephine Bertelsen and Sophia Warren, as well as Emma Grace Messenger of Montgomery, Texas. Chandler Ryan, formerly of the FGCU women's basketball team, will also utilize her final year of collegiate eligibility on the course.
For complete coverage of the women's golf program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WGOLF, on Facebook at /fgcuwgolf and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU women's golf or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
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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.
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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