DURHAM, N.C. - FGCU Men's Golf carded the lowest second round among all participating programs Friday at the Rod Myers Invitational.

The Rod Myers Invitational features seven programs ranked in the top-55, according to Golfstat.

FGCU's second-round 280 helped the Eagles climb up three spots on the team leaderboard, currently placing tied for fourth. The final 18 holes of competition are scheduled for Saturday.

"Really proud of our team's effort to hang in there throughout the day," head coach Andrew Danna said. "We are looking forward to another opportunity to compete again tomorrow."

The Eagles were dialed in in the second round, cutting off 17 strokes from its opening team round of 297.

Both #36 North Florida and #49 Alabama sit tied for the team-lead at 6-under-par. #54 FGCU is tied for fourth at 1-over, seven strokes back of first place and two strokes back of third.

The Green and Blue is well ahead of both #34 Missouri (+12) and #35 Liberty (+15) after two rounds of play.

Two Eagles reside in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard heading into Saturday. Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla.) is tied for first at 4-under for the event. He opened with a par round of 72 and ended his day with a 4-under round of 68, climbing up seven spots.

Cherichella leads all players (78) in total pars with 28.

Lucas Fallotico (Italy) is tied for ninth at 2-under par. Fallotico shot a 73 to begin the fall season and followed it up with a 3-under 69. 

Fallotico and Cherichella were two of just 11 players to card a second round in the 60s.

FGCU leads the tournament in par-5 scoring, averaging a 4.53. As a team, the Eagles are 19-under on par 5s.

Pierre Viallaneix (Apopka, Fla.) is fifth in made birdies with nine, currently placing tied for 23rd on the individual leaderboard at 2-over-par.

Duke University Golf Club (Durham, N.C.)
Par 72: 7,154 Yards
Sept. 9-10, 2022

EAGLE STARTING FIVE
T1 Austin Cherichella 72-68 | -4 140
T9 Lucas Fallotico 73-69 | -2 142
T23 Pierre Viallaneix 74-72 | +2 146
T49 Lukas Roessler 80-71 | +7 151
T65 Jon Hopkins 78-77 | +11 155

TEAM LEADERBOARD
T1 #36 North Florida -6 | 570
T1 #49 Alabama -6 | 570
3 #42 Duke -1 | 575
T4 #34 Charlotte +1 | 577
T4 #54 FGCU +1 | 577
6 UNCW +3 | 579
T7 UNCG +12 | 588
T7 #45 Missouri +12 | 588
9 Virginia Tech +13 | 589
10 #35 Liberty +15 | 591
11 Penn State +19 | 595
12 Loyola Maryland +21 | 597
13 East Carolina +23 | 599
14 Princeton +29 | 605

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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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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.