FORT MYERS, Fla. – A rare weekend tournament is on tap for the FGCU men's golf team as the Eagles head to Gainesville to take part in the VyStar Gators Invitational hosted by the University of Florida. The tournament will take place at the Par 70, 6701 yard Mark Bostick Golf Course starting at 8 AM on Saturday morning.
The field features six top-50 programs highlighted by No. 3 Oklahoma state as well as No. 23 LSU and ASUN foe No. 24 Liberty. All but three of the 15 squads in the field are ranked in the GolfStat.com Top 100. Live scoring from all three rounds will be available through
www.GolfStat.com.
The Eagles are coming off a ninth-place showing at the Sea Best Invitational at the beginning of the month.
Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka, Fla./Winter Park HS/Western Carolina) tied for fourth individually after carding a 66 in the third round.
Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) will play in the No. 1 spot this weekend followed by
Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS), Viallaneix,
Brady Madsen (Raymond, Minn./MacCray HS/Winona State), and
Frankie Capan III (North Oaks, Minn./Northwest Christian HS/Alabama).
Through 15 rounds, Viallaneix leads the Eagles with a 72.60 scoring average. All five Eagles are averaging scores this season in the low-to-mid 73s with Viallaneix, Madsen, and Cherichella each having top-10 finishes on the year.
45th VyStar Gators Invitational
Mark Bostick Golf Course – Par 70 – 6,701 Yards
FGCU Lineup:
1.
Jon Hopkins
2.
Austin Cherichella
3.
Pierre Viallaneix
4.
Brady Madsen
5.
Frankie Capan III
Tournament Field:
#114 Florida Atlantic
#31 Florida
Florida 'B' Team
#72 FGCU
#91 Georgia Southern
#93 Jacksonville
#24 Liberty
#23 LSU
#42 Missouri
#3 Oklahoma State
#78 Penn State
#59 UCF
#144 UNCW
#75 West Virginia
#25 South Florida
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HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA:
Danna is in his third year at the helm of the FGCU men's golf program after leading the Eagles to a second-place finish at the 2021 ASUN Championship. 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 program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
