COLUMBUS, OHIO – After the first round of the NCAA Tournament Columbus Regional, the FGCU men's golf team sits 12^th after shooting 298 at the Ohio State University Golf Club's Scarlet Course. Austin Cherichella led the Eagles, making their first-ever NCAA Tournament team appearance, after shooting a two-over 73 to tie for 25^th on the individual leaderboard.
 
"We had a tough time executing today, but there was the bright spot of how we closed the round with a pair of birdies from Austin and Brady on No. 18," said head coach Andrew Danna. "We're looking forward to tomorrow for another opportunity to compete."
 
Round two will begin on Tuesday morning with FGCU teeing off on No. 10 beginning at 8:55 AM. Live stats will be available on www.GolfStat.com.
 
Top seed and No. 2 ranked Oklahoma State leads the field after the opening day as the only team to shoot under par with a score of 280. East Tennessee State is second (286) followed by San Francisco (288). Ohio State, Duke, and Georgia Tech are tied for fifth at 290.
 
The top five teams after the three rounds and the top individual not on one of those teams will advance to the NCAA Championship at the Grayhawk Club in Scottsdale Arizona. The Eagles were seeded ninth overall heading into the regional field.
 
Just a stroke behind Cherichella in the round were Pierre Viallaneix and Brady Madsen who each shot 74 to tie for 35^th. Frankie Capan III was the fourth scorer on the day after shooting 77.
 
Cherichella was even through the opening nine, while Viallaneix was one over. FGCU had some early struggles on the back nine, but the Eagles were able to finish even as a team on the final three holes to build momentum heading into Tuesday's second round.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T25 - Austin Cherichella – 73
T35 - Pierre Viallaneix – 74
T35 - Brady Madsen – 74
T63 - Frankie Capan III – 77
T72 - Jon Hopkins – 80  

Ohio State Golf Club – Columbus, Ohio
Hosted by Ohio State
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. #2 Oklahoma State – 280
2. #30 East Tennessee State – 286
3. #61 San Francisco – 288
4. #23 Clemson – 289
T5. #35 Ohio State – 290
T5. #41 Duke – 290
T5. #11 Georgia Tech – 290
8. #14 Arkansas – 292
9. #65 Kentucky – 294
10. #44 Northwestern – 295
11. #89 Wright State – 297
12. #51 Florida Gulf Coast – 298
13. #151 Southern Illinois - 307
 
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HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA:
Danna is in his third 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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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 plus 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 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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