DADE CITY, Fla. -- The FGCU women's golf team finished second Tuesday at the Spring Break Shootout.
Tuesday's runner-up effort marked the third time in which the Eagles have placed second this season, and the Green & Blue have finished no lower than second in its last three events. FGCU also posted second-place performances at both the Jupiter Invitational and the Lady Bison Classic At Bay Point.
At the Spring Break Shootout, FGCU fell just six strokes shy of tournament host and champion Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are coached by former FGCU men's golfer and 2003 graduate Adam Gary. Both the Hilltoppers and the Eagles trailed then-first place Morehead State by eight shots heading into the final round. Morehead State finished fourth.
"Overall, it was a good week," said FGCU women's golf head coach Shannon Sykora. "We had a chance to win, but didn't quite pull it out at the end."
FGCU's 284 team score in round two tied the ninth-lowest team score in program history. Sykora and his squad have already broken the school record for the lowest team round in school this season, setting the new mark at 278.
Two Eagles recorded a career-best finish on the individual leaderboard Tuesday, as sophomore Posie Farrelly (Lutz, Fla./George Steinbrenner HS) and freshman Leonie Wulfers (Muenster, Germany/Gymnasium Hochradround) both tied for third at one-over-par 214.
Morehead State's Ruth Toennessen won the individual medalist at three-under-par 210 for the tournament.
Wulfers shot back-to-back under-par rounds, 69 and 70, and her second-round 69 marked a career-low effort. Wulfers tied for the tournament lead in made birdies with 13, sinking six during round two.
Farrelly's bogey-free, second-round 69 matched her career low. Her 41 made pars placed third among the 90-golfer field.
All four counting scores for FGCU finished no lower than T19th, as freshman Lousiane Gauthier (Canelones, Uruguay/Colegio Stella Maris) finished 15th and sophomore Anna Claire Bridge (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS/FAU) tied for 19th. Gauthier cut a stroke in each of her three rounds to enter the clubhouse with a 219, six-over.
FGCU was dialed in on the par-3s, leading the 16-team field in combined scoring on such holes.
The Eagles return to action later this month on March 27-29 eyeing to stay hot at the Golfweek/AGT Intercollegiate from Pawley's Island, S.C.
For complete coverage of the women's golf program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WGOLF, on Facebook at FGCU Women's Golf, and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. Eagles fans 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.
FGCU STARTING FIVE:
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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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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 ASUNand 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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