FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's golf team officially begins the spring portion of its schedule on Monday morning as the Eagles take part in the Sea Best Invitational hosted by Jacksonville at TPC Sawgrass's Dye's Valley course.
 
Monday will feature 36 holes starting at 8 AM with live stats available through www.GolfStat.com. The tournament will conclude with 18 holes on the 6,873 yard, par 70 course on Tuesday.
 
The Eagles had a pair of second-place finishes in the fall along with a ninth-place showing at the Bahamas Invitational and a 12^th-place effort at the Maridoe Collegiate.
 
The Sea Best field includes six top-50 programs headlined by No. 9 Texas A&M. The ASUN will be represented by No. 26 Liberty, No. 51 North Florida, No. 71 FGCU, No. 99 Jacksonville and No. 105 Lipscomb. No. 35 Louisville and No. 39 Florida are also among the top programs in the tournament.
 
The Eagles will be led by Frankie Capan III (North Oaks, Minn./Northwest Christian HS/Alabama) and Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS) who posted scoring averages of 73.44 and 73.67 in the fall tournaments. Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka, Fla./Winter Park HS/Western Carolina) has shot 73.17 through four tournaments this year, while Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) is posting a 73.42 scoring average. Brady Madsen (Raymond, Minn./MacCray HS/Winona State) rounds out the five scoring players for FGCU as he averaged 72.83 strokes per round in the fall.
 
Lucas Fallotico (Cernusco Sul Naviglo, Italy/Istituto Comprensivo Aldo Moro Seregno) and Thomas Salanito (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic) will enter the field as individuals. Fallotico led FGCU in the fall with a 72.00 average in two tournaments. Salanito played in three tournaments with a 73.89 scoring average.
 
Conditions are expected to be chilly on Monday and Tuesday with the temperature around 44 degrees for the opening tee times and highs in the low 60s during the afternoon, however, rain and wind are not in the forecast as was the case last spring.
 
TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley
Par 70 – 6,873 yards
 
FGCU Lineup:
1. Frankie Capan III
2. Austin Cherichella
3. Pierre Viallaneix
4. Jon Hopkins
5. Brady Madsen
Indiv - Lucas Fallotico
Indiv - Thomas Salanito
 
Sea Best Invite Field:
#109 Campbell
#44 Charlotte
#72 College of Charleston
#39 Florida
#71 FGCU
#99 Jacksonville
#26 Liberty
#105 Lipscomb
#35 Louisville
#51 North Florida
#9 Texas A&M
#50 UAB
#215 USC Upstate
 
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HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA:
Danna just finished his second year at the helm of the FGCU men's golf program leading the Eagles to a second place finish at the ASUN Championship. One of the best turnarounds in NCAA history saw the Green and Blue, led by Van Holmgren who became the first player to earn PING All-Region honors, jump from No. 257 in the final 2019-20 GolfStat.com rankings to a program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. Before taking over in Fort Myers, he served the 2018-19 season as the assistant at LSU. Prior to that he was the ultra-successful head coach for six years at Lynn University where he led them to the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship and was, subsequently, chosen the David Williams National Coach of the Year. He also led the Fighting Knights to three national runner-up placements, with a third and eighth place finish in his other two seasons.
  
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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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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