FORT MYERS, Fla. - Former FGCU men's golf standout Frankie Capan III has earned his Korn Ferry Tour card.

Capan III finished tied for eighth at the Korn Ferry Q-School Tournament in Savannah, Georgia, to earn partial exemption status. With this finish, he is now guaranteed 12 starts and will receive exempt status through the first two re-orders of the tour next season.

The Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament is the premier avenue to achieve the tour's status. The tournament consists of pre-qualifying, a first stage, a second stage and a final stage. Players who make it all the way to the final stage of the event are guaranteed a Korn Ferry Tour card for the following season, while the top 40 finishers at the final stage earn a certain number of starts next year. Capan III was one of only eight players to advance in every stage beginning with pre-qualifying.

"We are all so proud of Frankie," head coach Andrew Danna said. "He works really hard and is very deserving of all his success. He is one of the best ball strikers I have ever been around in my entire career. Frankie has an incredible future ahead. I'm excited for him as he continues to learn and develop his game out on tour."

The North Oaks, Minnesota native posted a 9-under, final-stage effort in four rounds of play, shooting a 69 or better each round with his mother Charlynn on the bag as his caddie. Capan III now joins Derek Lamely, a PGA Tour winner, and Joey Lamielle, full Nationwide Tour status in 2009, as one of the notable FGCU greats to have success at the next level.

At FGCU (2020-22), he competed in 18 tournaments as Eagle after transferring from Alabama, logging 54 rounds and holding an 72.35 scoring average. His career scoring average ranks fourth in program history.

Last season, Capan III notched a win at the Auburn Tiger Invitational setting a new FGCU 54-hole scoring record and also tied the lowest round in program history with back-to-back rounds of 64. His 197 was the first sub-200 performance in school history.

Capan III was a two-time ASUN Second Team selection and was also a key contributor in helping the men's golf team to become first program in FGCU Athletics history to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.

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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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!
 
#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 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 & 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 six 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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