Eagles Hold Tournament Lead After Day One of the Daniel Island Intercollegiate

Pierre Viallaneix In a Three-Way Tie for First On the Player Leaderboard

CHARLESTON, S.C. - FGCU Men's Golf leads the 18-team field of the Daniel Island Intercollegiate after day one on Sunday.

FGCU's opening-round 295 propelled the Eagles atop the team leaderboard standings. The Green and Blue leads No. 23 Mississippi State by one stroke, No. 61 South Carolina by nine shots and No. 48 Mercer by 18.

"The conditions were really tough today, especially starting the day," head coach Andrew Danna said. "We have a long way to go in this tournament, and it's important to stay focused and continue to be as efficient as we can."

FGCU is eyeing its first team title of the 2022-23 season and the first team crown since March.

All four counting scores for FGCU currently place 14th or better in a tournament field of 104 student-athletes. In fact, Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka, Fla.) entered the clubhouse tied for the tournament lead at even par.

Viallenix is tied with Gene Zeigler from South Carolina and Ford Clegg out of Mississippi State in a three-way tie for first on the player leaderboard.

A pair of Eagles also sit top 5 on the player leaderboard. Both Sam Baker (Cloquet, Minn.) and Lucas Fallotico (Italy) carded opening round 74s to place fifth through round one. Jon Hopkins (England) is tied for 14th to round out the counting scores for FGCU.

FGCU leads the field in made pars with 65 but is tied for eighth in made birdies.

Round two of the three-day event is slated to begin Monday.

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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!

HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA
Danna is in his fourth year at the helm of the men's golf program with the Eagles earning FGCU's first-ever NCAA Tournament at-large berth in department history during the 2022 season. He has led the Eagles to second-place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 ASUN Championships and was named the program's first-ever ASUN Coach of the Year (2021) and repeated in 2022. 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 then program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. The Eagles set a new program-best during the 2022 season at No. 47 in the GolfStat.com rankings. Holmgren won the ASUN Championship individual title to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. 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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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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Players Mentioned

Van Holmgren: 6' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Van Holmgren
: 6' 8"; Senior