OWENS CROSSROADS, Ala. – The FGCU women's golf team soared to a five-stroke lead Sunday after day one of the 2023 ASUN Championship.
"It was a very difficult day with the wind and rain, but we handled the back nine well and we're able to have a solid team score," said FGCU women's golf head coach Shannon Sykora.
FGCU carded a 10-over-par 298 team score on the RTJ at Hampton Cove layout, and three Eagles currently are among the top six on the individual leaderboard. Lipscomb's 15-over 303 places the Bisons second, and Jacksonville State is third at 17-over though the first round.
Freshmen Lousiane Gauthier (Canelones, Uruguay/Colegio Stella Maris) and Grace Rigby-Walden (Gerrards Cross, England/The Chalfonts Community College) are tied for second after 1-over-par 73s -- just one stroke back of the tournament leader, Lipscomb's Lauren Thompson heading into Monday's second round. The third and final round of the ASUN Championship is scheduled for Tuesday.
FGCU sophomore Posie Farrelly (Lutz, Fla./George Steinbrenner HS) is tied for sixth after an opening-round 74.
Between Gauthier, Rigby-Walden, and Farrelly, the trio sank only one birdie on the front nine -- but combined for seven on the back to fuel the Eagles' leaderboard charge.
Farrelly delivered back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15, while Rigby-Walden did the same on 10 and 11. Rigby-Walden is also just one of four golfers in the field to currently hold a combined under-par score on the par-4 holes.
The Eagles are fifth as a team in made pars, but are second in overall birdies with 12.
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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 97 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 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 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 3.67 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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