MELBOURNE, Fla. – Despite a rocky start on Sunday, the No. 21 FGCU women's golf team closed out the 4^th Annual Moon Invitational on Tuesday with a score of 293 for its best round of the three-day tournament. The third-round score was the 10^th-best of the day as the Eagles shot better than Miami, North Carolina and Florida while tying UCF.
 
"I'm really proud of how the team closed out today's round after the tough start on Sunday," said head coach Sarah Trew. "I think today's round, most of all, showed that our team is capable of playing alongside Power 5 programs and finding success. We were just a couple of strokes behind Arkansas, Louisville, and Oklahoma as well. I think ending the tournament the way we did gives us even more confidence going forward with the year."
 
Overall, FGCU placed 16^th among the 18-team field which was comprised mostly of top-25 programs including seven ranked in the top-10. The Eagles entered Tuesday in 17^th place, but with their third round were able to move up one spot past a traditionally very good Augusta program.
 
South Carolina won the overall tournament with a three-day score of 840 followed by LSU (846) and Virginia (854). FGCU finished with a score of 900 which edged them past Augusta by a stroke.
 
Junior Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) was the highest individual for the Eagles with a three-day score of 220 after shooting 74 on Tuesday.
 
Sophomore Sarah Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay), redshirt sophomore Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest), and senior Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) each recorded their lowest scores of the tournament going 72, 73, and 74 respectively. Edwards finished tied for 63^rd (224) followed by Yerxa (T71, 226) and Nassar (T82, 231).
 
Yerxa's play in the third-round was highlighted by an eagle on hole 15, while she also added three birdies. Edwards led FGCU with five birdies on Tuesday to finish at par in the round.
 
Redshirt senior Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre) rounded out the quintet in 92^nd with a three-day score of 238.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T45 - Laura Edmonds – 70-76-74 – 220
T63 - Sarah Edwards – 78-74-72 – 224
T71 - Haley Yerxa – 79-74-73 – 226
T82 - Natalia Nassar – 80-77-74 -- 231
92 - Ailsa Clark – 80-76-82 – 238
 
2021 Teams Participating (Golfweek/GolfStat Rankings)
1 - #3/#2 South Carolina – 280-275-285 – 840
2 - #10/#3 Louisiana State – 285-280-281 – 846
3 - #5/NR Virginia – 285-282-287 – 854
4 - Florida State – 285-287-284 – 856
5 - #11/#5 Auburn – 289-286-287 – 862
6 - #31/NR University of Central Florida – 282-289-293 – 864
T7 - #55/NR Illinois – 287-293-285 – 865
T7 - #12/#7 Arkansas – 292-282-291 – 865
9 - #29/#16 Alabama – 292-288-286 – 866
10 – Louisville – 290-288-291 – 869
T11 - #13/#8 Florida – 291-283-298 – 872
T11 - #15/NR Miami – 296-281-295 – 872
13 - #16/#9 Oklahoma – 304-287-290 – 881
14 - North Carolina – 299-289-297 – 885
15 - Coastal Carolina – 299-294-299 – 892
16 - #21/NR Florida Gulf Coast University – 307-300-293 – 900
17 – Augusta – 304-298-299 – 901
18 - Florida Atlantic – 313-302-298 – 913
 
 
 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--