MACON, Ga. – After a strong first round performance for the FGCU women's golf team, a tough afternoon second round dropped the Eagles from second place to ninth place heading into Tuesday's finale at the Brickyard Collegiate hosted by Mercer. Sophomore Sarah Edwards (Jay, Fla./Jay) leads the Eagles after 36 holes as she is tied for 13^th with a two-round score of 152.
 
As a team, FGCU shot 303 in the morning's first round to sit in second among the 14-team field at the Brickyard Golf Club (Par 72, 6218 yards). A score of 322, however, in the afternoon session dropped the Eagles (625) seven spots though they are just three strokes behind No. 41 North Florida (eighth place) and eight strokes behind Chattanooga (fifth place). No. 31 UCF leads the field with a two-round score of 593.
 
"We had a very up and down day. This is a very challenging golf course that yields higher scores than normal," said head coach Sarah Trew. "The team that does the best is the one that can manage to eliminate big numbers. I was very proud of the team this morning for their play and the way they handled themselves. In the second round, we got tired and frustration set it. We gave away far too many shots, but are looking forward to redemption tomorrow."
 
Tuesday's final round will begin at 8 AM with teams' start times based on their leaderboard position. The Eagles will begin play from hole No. 1 starting at 8 AM through 8:45 AM. Spectators are welcome with CDC guidelines enforced. Live scoring will be available through www.GolfStat.com.
 
Edwards opened the day with a team-best 74 in the first round while adding a 78 in the second round. In the first round, she posted 10 straight holes at par before back-to-back bogies on No. 14 and No. 15. Despite the trouble, she closed out the round even on the next six holes for a plus two on her first eighteen. The afternoon round saw her card three birdies, however, a pair of double bogies on No. 5 and No. 16 put her outside the top 10.
 
Senior Natalia Nassar (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Colegio Panamericano) had four birdies on the day with three in the first round and one in the second. After opening the day with a double bogey on No. 3, she stayed on track until scoring a triple bogey on No. 12. She birdied two of her final three holes to post a 77 for her opening 18. In the afternoon, she stood plus five on her first nine, but settled in following the turn going par-or-better on six of the next seven holes.
 
Redshirt senior Ailsa Clark (Navarre, Fla./Navarre) shot 76 to open the first round with eight straight pars on her first nine. Despite some trouble with three bogeys on the back nine, she closed the round with four straight pars. She shot 81 in the afternoon session to finish the day tied for 37^th.
 
Junior Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) also had a strong first round shooting 76 with a pair of birdies to offset triple bogeys on No. 5 and No. 14. She shot par of 14 of the 18 holes including the last six of the round. In the afternoon session, she scored 84 which dropped her into a tie for 52^nd.
 
Both Redshirt sophomore Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) and junior Sophia Warren (Lakewood Ranch, Fla./Seminole State College), who played as an individual, tied for 77^th after both posted scores of 172 for the 36 holes. Yerxa shot 87 in the first round and 85 in the second, while Warren shot 83 and 89 on the day.
 
FGCU entered the competition ranked No. 87 in this week's GolfStat.com team rankings. The 14-team field is led by No. 31 UCF followed by No. 42 North Florida. Overall, including the Green and Blue, 10 programs are ranked in the top 100 including host Mercer, South Florida, Furman, Kennesaw State, and Chattanooga.
 
Following Monday and Tuesday's action, The Eagles will then have nearly two weeks to prepare for the 2021 ASUN Championship which will be hosted from April 18-20 at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T13 - Sarah Edwards – 74-78 – 152
T32 - Natalia Nassar – 77-79 – 156
T37 - Ailsa Clark – 76-81 – 157
T52 - Laura Edmonds – 76-84 – 160
T77 - Haley Yerxa – 87-85 – 172
T77 - Sophia Warren (Individual) – 83-89 – 172
 
Brickyard Collegiate Field:
1 - #31 UCF – 298-295 – 593
2 - #59 Mercer – 307-292 – 599
3 - #68 Kennesaw State – 304-301 – 605
4 - #61 Furman – 306-301 – 607
5 - #86 Chattanooga – 319-298 – 617
6 - #112 Memphis – 311-307 – 618
7 - #95 Florida Atlantic – 305-314 – 619
8 - #42 North Florida – 310-312 – 622  
9 - #87 FGCU – 303-322 –625
10 - #58 South Florida – 315-314 –629
11 - #105 Troy – 320-310 – 630
12 - #94 Middle Tennessee – 322-311 – 633
13 - #135 UAB – 314-323 – 637
14 - Daytona State – 322-327 – 649
 
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.
 
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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

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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 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 40 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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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