PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- The FGCU women's golf team sits second after Sunday's first round at the Lady Bison Bay Point Classic.
FGCU's team score of 295 (+7) trails tournament host and event leader Lipscomb (291, +3) by just four strokes. The second-place Eagles hold an eight-shot advantage over third-place North Alabama.
"Sunday was was a solid start," said FGCU women's golf coach Shannon Sykora. "The team is in good spirits and looking forward to (Monday)."
One Eagle is perched among the top five of the individual leaderboard, while two fellow Eagles reside within the top 10. Freshman Leonie Wulfers (Muenster, Germany/Gymnasium Hochrad) is tied for fourth, while teammates sophomore Anna Claire Bridge (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS/FAU) and freshman Grace Rigby-Walden (Gerrards Cross, England/The Chalfonts Community College) are tied for seventh.
Wulfers opened the spring campaign with an even-par round of 72, sinking three birdies. She is just one of six golfers to card an even- or under-par round to begin the three-day event.
Bridge and Rigby-Walden each carded 1-over 73s.
Lipscomb's Lauren Thompson paces the field after a 4-under-par 68.
The Green & Blue leads the 15-team field in overall birdies with 14 and are third in pars with 54.
Round two is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Monday, with the final round of action set for Tuesday.
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 FGCUwomen's golf or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
FGCU STARTING FIVE:
T4
Leonie Wulfers 72 | E
T7
Grace Rigby-Walden 73 | +1
T7
Anna Claire Bridge 73 | +1
21
Posie Farrelly 77 | +5
T22
Lousiane Gauthier 78 | +6
TEAM LEADERBOARD:
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.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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!
#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 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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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