PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – After two rounds of the Sea Best Invitational on the Dye's Valley Course of TPC Sawgrass, the FGCU men's golf squad sits ninth among the highly competitive 12-team field. The match will conclude on Tuesday morning with the third round starting at 8 AM.
 
The Eagles finished the day with a 36-hole score of 600 – six strokes behind Campbell and seven behind the College of Charleston. North Florida leads the field with a team score of 571. The day saw windy conditions with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s during round two which caused the fields average to nearly increase by three strokes.
 
"The conditions were tough today. We did some things well despite that, though we also made a lot of mistakes," said head coach Andrew Danna. "I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there today. We'll do our best to put together a good round tomorrow."
 
Junior Brady Madsen (Raymond, Minn./MacCray HS/Winona State), competing in the event as an individual and not part of the five declared scorers, shot 69 in the first round and 70 in the second. On the par 70 course, he posted eight birdies in the two rounds including five in the afternoon.
 
Senior Van Holmgren (Plymouth, Minn./Waysata HS/North Dakota State) led the scoring group with a score of 147 after shooting 73 and 74 on the day. The highlight of his two rounds came with a pair of eagles in the afternoon session where he was two-under on both holes No. 1 and No. 16. He stands three strokes off from the top-10 standings going into Tuesday's play.
 
Both freshman Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS) and sophomore Frankie Capan III (North Oaks, Minn./Northwest Christian HS/Alabama) stood tied for 37^th with two-round scores of 152. Capan Also posted a pair of eagles on the day doing so on hole No. 1 in the first round and hole No. 16 in the second round. Cherichella had five birdies in the first round to finish the morning session with a 73 to highlight his day.
 
In his FGCU debut, freshman Thomas Salanito (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic) finished just two strokes behind Cherichella and Capan to tie for 49^th (81-73—154). He bounced back in the afternoon with four birdies and 10 holes of par-or-better.
 
Rounding out the Eagles performers was Michael O'Brien who stands tied for 57^th at 157 (76-81).
 
O'Brien will start the third round for the Eagles at 8:18 AM on Tuesday morning.
 
FGCU LINE-UP:
T2nd - Brady Madsen – 69-70—139 (individual)
T18th – Van Holmgren - 73-74—147
T37th - Frankie Capan III – 75-77—152
T37th – Austin Cherichella – 73-79—152
T49th - Thomas Salanito – 81-73—154
T57th - Michael O'Brien – 76-81—157
 
SEA BEST INVITATIONAL FIELD (Golfweek/GolfStat):
1st - #26/NR North Florida – 280-291—571
t-2nd - Duke – 284-300—584
t-2nd - #20/NR Liberty – 291-293—584
4th - Charlotte – 284-301—585
5th - NC State – 289-298—587
6th - #47/NR Jacksonville – 295-293—588
7th - College of Charleston – 289-304—593
8th - Campbell University – 298-296—594
9th - #92/NR FGCU – 297-303--600
10th - #102/NR Lipscomb – 301-313—614
11 – Toledo – 314-310—624
12 - #111/NR South Carolina Upstate – 309-320—629

 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.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 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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