BANDON, Ore. - A terrific four-day performance came to an end on Thursday afternoon as FGCU men's golf sophomore Frankie Capan III (North Oaks, Minn./Northwest Christian/Alabama) fell in the USGA Amateur Championship during the Round of 32 match play. Capan battled Philip Barbaree throughout Thursday's competition before conceding on the 17th hole.

Capan reached the Round of 32 after tying for 11th in stroke play over Monday and Tuesday's action going four-under par. He then earned a 2-and-1 win over Derek Busby in the Round of 64. Reaching the Round of 32 was the farthest an FGCU golfer has advanced in the U.S. Amateur.

Joining Capan at the scenic Bandon Dunes Golf Course was senior Van Holmgren (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS/North Dakota State) who also advanced out of the two-rounds of stroke play at one over before falling 3-and-2 to Aman Gupta on Wednesday.

"It's great to see the competitiveness and work ethic from Van and Frankie on display this week at the U.S. Amateur," said head coach Andrew Danna. "As I have said before, I continue to be encouraged for the future of our program!"

In his Round of 64 win, Capan notched three birdies and a pair of Eagles with his winner coming on the 16th hole. On Thursday, he posted four birdies but an Eagle for Barbaree on the third hole proved an early disadvantage. Capan won the ninth and 10th holes to go 1-up, but Barbaree won the 11th to tie and went up one after winning the 12th. The duo each birdied the 13th and then shot par on the next three holes. On the 17th, Capan went one over while Barbaree finished for par to the the two stroke win.

Capan and Holmgren made history for the Eagles as the first-ever duo from the program to advance at the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Both student-athletes are coming off strong performances this summer with Capan winning the Minnesota State Amateur Championship this past month and making the 36 hole cut at the prestigious Western Amateur Championship last week in Indiana.  
 
Holmgren tied for third at the Minnesota State Amateur Championship and tied for 15th at the Sunnehanna Amateur Championship last month.  He also reached the Round of 32 at last year's U.S. Amateur Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., while Capan won the 2017 U.S. Amateur Fourball Championship in Pinehurst as well.

For complete coverage of the FGCU men's golf team, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_MGOLF and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com.  You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's golf and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA:
Danna will enter his second year at the helm of the men's golf program this fall. He served the previous season as the assistant at LSU. Prior to that he was the ultra-successful head coach for six years at Lynn University where he led them to the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship and was, subsequently, chosen the David Williams National Coach of the Year. He also led the Fighting Knights to three national runner-up placements, with a third and eighth place finish in his other two seasons.
 
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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, including three men's golfers. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (#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. In 2019-20, they ran their streak to three consecutive years leading both groups with the highest percentage of teams again receiving such high distinction (33% via 5 of 15 programs). 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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