OWENS CROSSROADS, Ala. - The FGCU women's golf team finished second Tuesday at the 2023 ASUN Championship.

The Eagles fell short of capturing its first-ever ASUN title by just two strokes. Lipscomb's final-round 295 helped the Bisons leapfrog four teams to claim its first ASUN Championship in program history.

Tuesday saw a tremendous amount of turmoil at the top of the team leaderboard, as the top five teams jostled for position making the turn for the final nine holes on the RTJ at Hampton Cove course. Only three shots separated the top three teams, and only six shots separated the top five.

FGCU opened the championship Sunday with a team-low round of 298 to grab a five-stroke lead. Entering Tuesday's final round, FGCU clung to an one-stroke advantage. The final round witnessed the Eagles as high as a three-way tie for first and as low as fourth place -- and as the dust settled, the Eagles found themselves in second place for the fourth time in school history.

"Very proud of how we fought out there today," said FGCU first-year head coach Shannon Sykora. "We just didn't have our best coming down the last few holes, but it was fun competing for the ASUN Championship."

FGCU's underclassmen fought valiantly, as the Eagles starting five consisted of three freshmen and just two sophomores. Freshman Lousiane Gauthier (Canelones, Uruguay/Colegio Stella Maris) birdied her last two holes, and freshman Leonie Wulfers (Muenster, Germany/Gymnasium Hochrad) birdied hole No. 15 and 17th to cap a final charge.

Gauthier posted a top-10 performance on the individual leaderboard to lead all Eagles. Gauthier even showed off the power by leading the championship field with the lowest combined score on the par-5 holes at 5-under-par.

Wulfers placed tied for 13th, surging up four spots during Tuesday's final round.

Both sophomore Posie Farrelly (Lutz, Fla./George Steinbrenner HS) and freshman Grace Rigby-Walden (Gerrards Cross, England/The Chalfonts Community College) entered the clubhouse with top-20 efforts, respectively finishing 17th and in a tie for 18th.

Rigby-Walden and Gauthier carded a team-low round of 73 on Sunday. Farrelly tied Gauthier for the team lead in made birdies with eight.

Sophomore Anna Claire Bridge (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS/FAU) posted a counting score Tuesday with a final-round 78.

Lipscomb's Lauren Thompson (+2) secured the individual title. Thompson's 2-under 70 on Tuesday survived a charge from both Jacksonville State's Claire Vermette and North Florida's Christin Eisenbeiss -- who were second by just by one stroke.

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:


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 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.

---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---