CHARLESTON, S.C. - FCGU remains in first place at the Daniel Island Intercollegiate through 36 holes of competition.
"The weather was significantly better today," head coach Andrew Danna said. "We still have a long way to go. It's important to try and stay as efficient as possible."
The Eagles expanded its tournament lead out to three strokes over No. 23 and second-place Mississippi State on Monday, shooting a 292 in round two. On Sunday, FGCU opened the event with a 295 team round.
FGCU also leads No. 61 South Carolina by seven shots and tournament host Charleston Southern by 31.
The third and final round of play is scheduled to begin on Tuesday as the Green and Blue looks to capture its first team title of the 2022-23 season.
Sam Baker (Cloquet, Minn.) now leads all Eagles after some moving-day shuffle during round two action, currently placing tied for second on the player leaderboard at 2-over-par. Baker is in a three-way tie for second and just six strokes back of the individual leader. Gene Zeigler from South Carolina leads the field at 4-under.
Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla.) made a charge up the leaderboard as well, surging all the way from T34th to T5th. Cherichella is the only Eagle to card an under-par round thus far in Charleston. On Monday, he fired a two-under 70 and sits 3-over heading into Tuesday's final round.
Jon Hopkins (England) shaved two strokes from his opening-round effort and is tied for 10th. Lucas Fallotico (Italy) rounds out the four counting scores for FGCU, currency placing tied for 23rd.
Entering the day, Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka, Fla.) led the tournament but has now fallen to 38th.
EAGLE STARTING FIVE
T2 Sam Baker 74-72 | +2
T5 Austin Cherichella 77-70 | +3
T10 Jon Hopkins 75-73 | +4
T23 Lucas Fallotico 74-77 | +7
T38 Pierre Viallaneix 72-81 | +9
*Individual
T58 Thomas Salanito 80-75 | +11
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1 #77 FGCU +11 | 295-292 | 587
2 #23 Mississippi State +14 | 296-294 | 590
3 #61 South Carolina +18 | 304-290 | 594
4 #79 Memphis +24 | 307-293 | 600
5 #86 MTSU +25 | 304-297 | 601
T6 #152 Louisiana Tech +26 | 305-297 | 602
T6 #162 Campbell +26 | 305-297 | 602
8 #172 Loyola Maryland +27 | 309-294 | 603
T9 #123 Jacksonville +31 | 310-297 | 607
T9 #100 UAB +31 | 308-299 | 607
11 #48 Mercer +32 | 313-295 | 608
12 #159 Seton Hall +37 | 303-310 | 613
13 #237 Houston Chritian University +39 | 313-302 | 615
T14 #128 Charleston Southern +42 | 310-308 | 618
T14 #108 College of Charleston +42 | 315-303 | 618
T16 #131 Wofford +45 | 320-301 | 621
T16 #187 Francis Marion +45 | 322-299 | 621
18 #236 USC Upstate +63 | 326-313 | 639
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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!
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.
#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 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.
