FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 1 ranked amateur in Uruguay, Lousiane Gauthier (Canelones, Uruguay/Colegio Stella Maris) became the first signee of the Shannon Sykora Era as announced by the new head coach today. Gauthier holds one of the highest World Amateur Golf Rankings in program history and will join early signees Grace Rigby-Walden (Gerrards Cross, England/The Chalfonts Community College) and Leonie Wulfers (Muenster, Germany/Gymnasium Hochrad).
 
"I'm extremely happy to welcome Louisane to the FGCU family," said Sykora who was officially named the program's new head coach in June. "She's an accomplished player and excellent student, but more importantly she's a great person and will be a great leader for us."
 
In the WAGR, Gauthier current ranks 327^th and has been as high as 301^st in the world. Over the last two years, she has six tournament wins and 18 top-10 finishes among her 21 countable events. She just narrowly missed on a top-10 finish at the Women's Amateur Latin America Championship this past November where she tied for 12^th overall.
 
Playing some of her best golf recently, Gauthier has picked up four of her six wins in the past seven months.
 
Gauthier will also compete in the upcoming 2022 World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) as a member of the Uruguayan National Team. The tournament will be held from Aug. 24-27 at the Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Breteche courses in France.
 
For complete coverage of the women's golf program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WGOLF, on Facebook at /fgcuwgolf and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU women's golf or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
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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!
 
COACH SYKORA
After a highly successful decade leading Barry University, Shannon Sykora was named the FGCU women's golf head coach on June 16, 2022. During his career with Barry, the Buccaneers won the 2017 NCAA Division II National Title, while finishing runner-up in 2014 and placing third in 2013 and 2022. Sykora led Barry to 28 tournament wins in his decade as head coach including four Division I tournament victories. He has produced five WGCA All-America First Team selections, nine WGCA Scholar All-Americans, one honorable mention All-American, the 2013 NCAA Division II Individual National Champion, and the only D-II player to compete in the inaugural Augusta Women's Amateur.
 
#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/adminservices/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.
 
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