JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. - Pierre Viallaneix shot a 4-under 68 to lead the Eagle starting five Sunday during the opening round of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate.
Villaneix (Apopka, Fla.) sank six birdies on the day, including four on the back nine en route to his season-low round. The senior is tied for second heading into Monday's second round and just two strokes back of tournament leader Algot Kleen (-6) from ETSU.
"I am proud of the effort that our guys showed today," head coach Andrew Danna said. "Pierre had an outstanding round. We had a couple bad holes that cost us on the team score side of things, but with a collective solid round tomorrow, we can get right back in contention."
Through 18 holes, FGCU is 12th as a team. The Green and Blue trails Power Five opponent Virginia Tech by one stroke, while tournament host ESTU leads the field at 11-under-par (277).
The Eagles carded a 294-team round (+6) to open play from the Volunteer State. FGCU ranks third in made pars (56) but 14th in overall made birdies (14).
Junior Cooper Hrabak (Medina, Ohio) is the next closest Eagle on the player leaderboard, tied for 48th (+2) after a day-one round of 74.
FGCU is scheduled to tee off round two tomorrow starting at 9:30 a.m. on hole No. 10 alongside Virginia Tech and Kent State.
EAGLE STARTING FIVE
T2 Pierre Viallaneix 68 | -4
T48 Cooper Hrabak 74 | +2
T58 Austin Cherichella 75 | +3
T72 Lucas Fallotico 77 | +5
T72 Sam Baker 77 | +5
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1 ETSU -11 | 277
T2 Cincinnati -9 | 279
T2 Georgia Southern -9 | 279
4 Missouri -4 | 284
T5 MTSU -2 | 286
T5 Furman -2 | 286
T5 Augusta -2 | 286
8 College of Charleston -1 | 286
9 Charlotte E | 288
10 Kent State +4 | 292
11 Virginia Tech +5 | 293
12 FGCU +6 | 294
13 Toledo +8 | 296
14 Coastal Carolina +10 | 298
15 Georgia State +13 | 301
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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.
