CHARLESTON, S.C. - FGCU Men's Golf finished second at the Daniel Island Intercollegiate Tuesday to wrap up the fall campaign.
As the dust settled, FGCU found itself trailing No. 23 Mississippi State by just three strokes. Heading into Tuesday's final round, the Eagles held a three stroke lead over the Bulldogs.
"I'm really proud of our team," head coach Andrew Danna said. "It was a great effort this week and we came away with a solid result. It was an extremely demanding golf course that required a lot of patience. Congrats to Mississippi State on the victory today. They are a great team and very well coached. We'll continue to work hard and be ready for our next opportunity to compete. It's a long season so it's important to be consistent and do your best to get a little better each day. Wings up!"
The Green and Blue closed with another consistent 295 team round, identical to its opening round. On Monday, FGCU Eagles posted a round-two team score of 292 to build upon its slim lead over the 18-team field but could not hang on. The Eagles held a one-stroke advantage over Mississippi State after the day one action.
Despite not taking first, FGCU still bested No. 61 South Carolina by 10 strokes and No. 48 Mercer by 22 shots.
Gene Zeigler from South Carolina took home the team title with a 2-under, 214 showing. The Gamecock was the only golfer in the 103 student-athlete field to card a round in the 60s.
Three Eagles finished top 12 or better on the player leaderboard, all season best efforts.
In fact, Jon Hopkins (England) led all Eagles with a season-best finish by tying for third. Hopkins improved each round and shot a 2-under 70 on Tuesday. He entered the clubhouse 2-over (218) for the tournament.
Sam Baker (Cloquet, Minn.) posted a top 10 effort in just his third ever collegiate event, finishing tied for eighth behind a three-round score of 221 (+5). Austin Cherichella's (Orlando, Fla.) season-best outing place tied 12th as he carded a 222 (+6).
FGCU will return to action in the spring on January 30-31 at the Sea Best Invitational from Jacksonville, Florida.
EAGLE STARTING FIVE
T3 Jon Hopkins 75-73-70 | +2 | 218
T8 Sam Baker 74-72-75 | +5 | 221
T12 Austin Cherichella 77-70-75 | +6 | 222
T31 Lucas Fallotico 74-77-75 | +10 | 226
T45 Pierre Viallaneix 72-81-77 | +14 | 230
*Individual
T37 Thomas Salanito 80-75-73 | +12 | 228
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1 #23 Mississippi State +15 | 296-294-289 | 879
2 #77 FGCU +18 | 295-292-295 | 882
3 #162 Campbell +27 | 305-297-289 | 891
T4 #61 South Carolina +28 | 304-290-298 | 892
T4 #79 Memphis +28 | 307-293-292 | 892
T6 #152 Louisiana Tech +30 | 305-297-292 | 894
T6 #86 MTSU +30 | 304-297-293 | 894
8 #172 Loyola Maryland +38 | 309-294-299 | 902
9 #100 UAB +39 | 308-299-296 | 903
10 #48 Mercer +40 | 313-295-296 | 904
11 #123 Jacksonville +42 | 310-297-299 | 906
12 #128 Charleston Southern +45 | 310-308-291 | 909
13 #131 Wofford +54 | 320-301-297 | 918
T14 #237 Houston Chritian University +56 | 313-302-305 | 920
T14 #159 Seton Hall +56 | 303-310-307 | 920
16 #187 Francis Marion +62 | 322-299-305 | 926
17 #108 College of Charleston +74 | 315-303-320 | 938
18 #236 USC Upstate +90 | 326-313-315 | 954
For complete coverage of FGCU men's golf, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram (@FGCU_MGolf), Facebook (@FGCUAthletics), and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's golf and all 15 sport programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
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.
