PLACIDA, Fla. – Paced by its third lowest round in program history, the FGCU men's golf team sits in first place after Monday's opening 36 holes of the Coral Creek Invitational hosted by the Coral Creek Club. Jon Hopkins is tied for second and Frankie Capan III is tied for fourth to lead the Eagles.
 
"We had a solid day on the course which was highlighted by an impressive morning round from the guys," said head coach Andrew Danna. "We still have a lot of work to do tomorrow and that's where our focus will shift to now. The team is looking forward to our next opportunity to compete in the final round."
 
FGCU shot a stellar 272 in the first round which was 12 under par going into the afternoon session. That score ranks as the third lowest in program history, while the 12 under is the seventh lowest round vs. par for the Eagles. The Green and Blue finished the first day of the tournament with a score of 555 which is also the second lowest 36-hole score in program history.
 
Heading into Tuesday's final round, the Eagles sit 11 strokes ahead of second-place Liberty (556) and 12 ahead of South Alabama (567).
 
Hopkins paced the Eagles with a two-round score of 137 to sit tied for second, while Capan shot 138 which is tied for fourth. Capan carded a 67 in the first round which tied his lowest round at FGCU. Both Capan and Hopkins, along with Austin Cherichella, finished the day with nine birdies. Capan's first round was highlighted by an eagle on No. 13, while Lucas Fallotico also carded one on the same hole.
 
FGCU had all five of its declared scorers go under par in the first round with Cherichella shooting 68, Madsen carding a 69, and Pierre Viallaneix shooting 70. Cherichella sits 8^th after two rounds (139) giving the Eagles three players in the top-10. Viallaneix is tied for 16^th (142), while Madsen is tied for 23^rd (143).
 
Fallotico, who is playing as an individual, tied for 16^th after finishing the day even (142). Thomas Salanito finished the first day tied for 58^th (149) as an individual in the field as well.
 
As a team, FGCU carded 40 birdies to lead the field by 11 through two rounds. The Eagles finished even on Par 3 holes and were 13 under on Par 5 holes for the day.
 
Round three will begin on Tuesday morning with a shotgun start at Coral Creek (Par 71, 7143 yards). Live scoring will be available through www.GolfStat.com. The event is highlighted by nine top 100 teams, including four top 50 programs, competing in the 54-hole tournament.
 
FGCU Line-up:
T2 – Jon Hopkins – 68-69 – 137
T4 – Frankie Capan III – 67-71 – 138
8 – Austin Cherichella – 68-71 – 139
T16 – Pierre Viallaneix – 70-72 – 142
T16 – Lucas Fallotico (Indiv) – 72-70 -- 142
T23 – Brady Madsen – 69-74 – 143
T58 – Thomas Salanito (Indiv) – 76-73 -- 149
 
Coral Creek Club Invitational Field
#67 FGCU – 272-283 – 555
#47 Liberty – 282-284 – 566
#100 South Alabama – 283-284 – 567
#38 North Florida – 285-286 – 571
#124 North Texas – 287-286 – 573
#70 Memphis – 286-288 – 574
#66 UCF – 285-289 – 574
#40 Kent State – 285-292 – 577
#84 Toledo – 283-295 – 578
#27 South Florida – 289-290 – 579
#18 Texas A&M – 289-290 – 579
#80 Cincinnati – 291-289 – 580
#108 Illinois State – 298-290 – 588
#110 Lipscomb – 302-289 – 591
#91 Jacksonville – 294-297 – 591
#188 Kennesaw State – 309-308 – 617
 
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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 and being named the program's first-ever ASUN Coach of the Year. 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. 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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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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.
 
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