MELBOURNE, Fla. – Junior Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) shot a two-under-par 70 to lead the No. 21 FGCU women's golf team after day one of the 4^th Annual Moon Golf Invitational. Edmonds heads into Monday's second round tied for seventh, while the team sits 17^th with a score of 307 following the first 18 holes.
 
The highly competitive field, hosted by Louisville, is being held at the Duran Golf Club (Par 72, 6383 yards) with 10 of the 18 teams ranked in the Top 25 including seven in the Top 10. Monday's second round has the Eagles set to tee off at 9:40 AM. Live scoring is available on www.GolfStat.com.
 
"We definitely were a different team today than we were last week," said head coach Sarah Trew. "Today we played scared and seemed to have lost a little bit of our confidence. The conditions were definitely a factor today as the course was very wet and winds gusted heavily on the back nine. We are looking forward to cleaning things up tomorrow and to play the confident golf that we are used to."
 
Edmonds sits in an eight-way tie for seventh and concluded the day just two strokes off being tied for third. South Carolina's Pauline Roussin-Bouchard leads the field with a day one score of 63.
 
The junior paced FCCU with four birdies while just carding two bogies. Her score of 70 tied for her sixth-best career round.
 
Sophomore Sarah Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay), who won the Mid-American Challenge last week, finished the first round with a six-over 78 to tie for 76^th. Redshirt sophomore Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) tied for 81^st (79), while redshirt senior Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre) and senior Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) each finished the first 18 tied for 86^th (80).
 
FGCU Lineup:
T7 - Laura Edmonds - 70
T76 - Sarah Edwards - 78
T81 - Haley Yerxa - 79
T86 - Ailsa Clark - 80
T86 - Natalia Nassar - 80
 
Day One Leaders (Golfweek/GolfStat Rankings)
1 - #3/#2 South Carolina - 280
2 - #31/NR University of Central Florida - 282
T3 - Florida State - 285
T3 - #10/#3 Louisiana State - 285
T3 - #5/NR Virginia - 285
6 - #55/NR Illinois - 287
7 - #11/#5 Auburn - 289
8 – Louisville - 290
9 - #13/#8 Florida - 291
T10 - #12/#7 Arkansas - 292
T10 - #29/#16 Alabama - 292
12 - #15/NR Miami - 296
T13 - Coastal Carolina - 299
T13 - North Carolina - 299
T15 - #16/#9 Oklahoma - 304
T15 – Augusta - 304
17 - #21/NR Florida Gulf Coast University - 307
18 - Florida Atlantic - 313
 
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.
 
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!
 
COACH TREW
Since taking over the program in 2011, Sarah Trew has guided the Eagles to 42 top-five finishes, including 30 over the past five seasons. On top of that, she led the program to a pair of second-place finishes in the ASUN Championship in 2016, 2017, and 2019, signifying the best finishes in program history. She was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2015-16 and has guided FGCU to some of its best statistical seasons in program history

#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. 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.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--