FORT MYERS, Fla. – Thanks to strong overall play in the first round, the FGCU men's golf team is tied for third after the opening 18 holes of the Linger Longer Invitational at the Great Waters Golf Course in Eatonton, Ga. The Eagles are tied with High Point after both shot 287 on the first day and trail second-place No. 51 Charlotte (285) by two strokes and field leader No. 40 Georgia Tech (283) by four.
 
Individually, sophomore Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) is tied for ninth after tying his season-best low round with a score of 70 on Friday. He was followed by junior Brady Madsen (Raymond, Minn./MacCray HS/Winona State) who shot 71 to tie for 14^th. Senior Van Holmgren (Plymouth, Minn./Waysata HS/North Dakota State) and freshman Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS) each tied for 28^th with a one-over 73, while graduate Michael O'Brien (West Chester, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller HS/Saint Joseph's) is tied for 43^rd (75).
 
"I'm proud of the way the team played today and how they competed," said head coach Andrew Danna. "We'll make a few adjustments and look to continue to improve tomorrow."
 
The Eagles, which are ranked 85^th in this week's www.GolfStat.com rankings, found success during the day on some of the longer holes where FGCU led the field in Par 4 (4.04) and Par 5 (4.45) scoring. Overall, the Green and Blue picked up 22 birdies which ranked third among the 16 teams. O'Brien and Hopkins both led the Eagles with six birdies which tied for second-most on the day.
 
Hopkins opened the round even through the first nine holes before picking up four birdies on the back nine to come in at two-under par. O'Brien picked up four birdies on the back nine to overcome a three over start. Madsen was one-under on his first nine holes before finishing the day even with a total of four birdies.
 
FGCU will open play tomorrow starting at 10:00 AM on hole No. 1 with live scoring provided through www.GolfStat.com.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T9 - Jon Hopkins - 70
T14 - Brady Madsen - 71
T28 - Van Holmgren - 73
T28 - Austin Cherichella - 73
T43 - Michael O'Brien - 75
 
Linger Longer Tournament Scoring (GolfStat.com Ranking):
1 - #40 Georgia Tech - 283
2 - #51 Charlotte - 285
T3 - #85 FGCU - 287
T3 - #154 High Point - 287
5 - #160 Memphis - 289
6 - #108 Louisiana Tech - 290
7 - #45 Virginia - 291
8 - North Alabama - 294
9 - #119 Kennesaw State - 295
10 - #79 Middle Tennessee State - 296
T11 - #142 Chattanooga - 297
T11 - #146 Mercer - 297
13 - #145 Troy - 298
14 - #153 Georgia State - 299
15 - #126 Toledo - 300
16 - #106 Augusta - 308
 
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 84 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. 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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