FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Men's Golf will compete in its second fall event starting Monday at the Old Town Collegiate from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The two-day event (Sept. 26-27) hosted by No. 19 Wake Forest will take place at the Old Town Club, a par-70 and 6,966-yard course. Thirty-six holes are scheduled for Monday's action with the final round of 18 set for Tuesday.
Eleven programs will be competing in the Tar Heel State, including four Power Five opponents. The field also includes three top-55 programs and one nationally ranked top 25 team.
Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla.), Lucas Fallotico (Italy), Jon Hopkins (England), Cooper Hrabak (Medina, Ohio) and Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka Fla.) will represent the starting five for the Eagles. Thomas Salanito will be competing as an individual for the Green and Blue.
FGCU tee times are scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. on holes No. 11-15.
Last time out, FGCU recorded an eighth-place finish at the Rod Myers Invitational team event. The Green and Blue carded a three-round team score of 877, besting #45 Missouri by one stroke. The Eagles also placed higher than Power Five opponents Virginia Tech and Penn State.
Fallotico paced all Eagles by placing tied for eighth behind a 2-under-par effort (214). Fallotico was just one position shy of tying a career-best finish.
Cherichella finished tied for 17th, 1-over (217).
Old Town Collegiate:
Sept. 25-26
Old Town Club
Par 70, 6,966 yards
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Hosted by Wake Forest
Teams:
Cincinnati
#47 College of Charleston
Davidson
#54 FGCU
Furman
#44 Georgia Southern
#65 Kansas State
Penn State
Rutgers
Southern Miss
#19 Wake Forest
Wake Forest B
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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!
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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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 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.
