DADE CITY, Fla. -- The FGCU women's golf team is tied for second after Monday's Day 1 of the Spring Break Shootout.
The Eagles are tied alongside tournament host Western Kentucky at 12-over-par. Both the Hilltoppers and the Eagles trail tournament leader Morehead State (+4) by eight shots heading into Tuesday's final round. After opening the event with 296 team score, FGCU cut 12 strokes in its round-two effort to match a tournament-low 284.
"We had a good day, especially with the conditions," said FGCU women's golf head coach Shannon Sykora. "We are in a good position to contend (Tuesday)."
FGCU won the 2022 Spring Break Shootout over Western Kentucky by two shots. The Green & Blue will have to make up some ground if it wishes to repeat and capture its second team title of the season. On the plus side, FGCU leads the 16-team field in made birdies with 27 through two rounds.
Both sophomore Posie Farrelly (Lutz, Fla./George Steinbrenner HS) and freshman Leonie Wulfers (Muenster, Germany/Gymnasium Hochradround) carded two-under 69s to lead the second-round charge. Farrelly's bogey-free performance matched her career low, while Wulfer's 69 marked a career-low round for the freshman.
Entering Tuesday, Farrelly sits tied for second at even-par 142 to lead the FGCU starting five, just four strokes back of event leader and Morehead State's Ruth Toennessen at four-under 138. Farrelly also leads the 90-golfer field in made pars with 29.
Wulfers is tied for eighth at two-over 144, and has converted the second-most birdies among any golfer with nine, including six during her career-low round.
All four counting scores for FGCU currently place tied for 17th or better on the individual leaderboard. Both freshman Lousiane Gauthier (Canelones, Uruguay/Colegio Stella Maris) and sophomore Anna Claire Bridge (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS/FAU) improved by one stroke in Monday's second round with a pair of 73s, placing 17th.
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FGCU STARTING FIVE:
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.
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 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 48 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. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five 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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