MELBOURNE, Fla. – Despite four Eagles posting lower scores in Monday's second round, the No. 21 FGCU women's golf team was unable to make up ground in the team standings remaining 17^th at the 4^th Annual Moon Invitational at the Duran Golf Club. The tournament, hosted by Louisville, will conclude with a final 18 holes being played on Tuesday morning.
 
"After a rough start today, I am very pleased with how we played," said head coach Sarah Trew. "Our back nine was playing very tough as the wind had picked up again today. There were several holes that were tough just to get there in two and we managed ourselves extremely well. We are looking forward to hopefully showing our best golf and going low tomorrow."
 
Junior Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) who finished Sunday's first round tied for 7^th after shooting a two-under-par 70, slipped into a tie for 37^th after scoring 76 on Monday.
 
As a team, FGCU posted a 300 on the day shaving seven strokes off its counted score from the first round. The two-day total of 607 has the Eagles five strokes behind Augusta (16^th) and 14 behind Coastal Carolina (15^th). South Carolina holds a 10-stroke lead over LSU with score of 555 following the first 36 holes.
 
Overall, the Eagles notched eight birdies which helped lower several individual scores compared to Sunday's opening round. Sophomore Sarah Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay) and redshirt sophomore Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) each had two, while senior Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) had three on the day.
 
Edwards and Yerxa each led the Eagles on Monday shooting 74 which cut four and five strokes off their Sunday scores, respectively. Redshirt senior Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre) also posted a 76 in the second round trimming four strokes off her opening total as well. Nassar cut three strokes from her Sunday total to finish with a 77 on Monday.
 
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. Tuesday's third round has the Eagles set to tee off at 8:45 AM. Live scoring is available on www.GolfStat.com.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T37 - Laura Edmonds – 70-76 – 146
T75 - Sarah Edwards – 78-74 – 152
T78 - Haley Yerxa – 79-74 – 153
85 - Ailsa Clark – 80-76 – 156
T86 - Natalia Nassar – 80-77 -- 157
 
2021 Teams Participating (Golfweek/GolfStat Rankings)
1 - #3/#2 South Carolina – 280-275 – 555
2 - #10/#3 Louisiana State – 285-280 – 565
3 - #5/NR Virginia – 285-282 – 567
4 - #31/NR University of Central Florida – 282-289 – 571
5 - Florida State – 285-287 – 572
T6 - #12/#7 Arkansas – 292-282 – 574
T6 - #13/#8 Florida – 291-283 – 574
8 - #11/#5 Auburn – 289-286 – 575
9 - #15/NR Miami – 296-281 – 577
10 – Louisville – 290-288 – 578
T11 - #55/NR Illinois – 287-293 – 580
T11 - #29/#16 Alabama – 292-288 – 580
13 - North Carolina – 299-289 – 588
14 - #16/#9 Oklahoma – 304-287 – 591
15 - Coastal Carolina – 299-294 – 593
16 – Augusta – 304-298 – 602
17 - #21/NR Florida Gulf Coast University – 307-300 – 607
18 - Florida Atlantic – 313-302 – 615
 
 
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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.
 
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