FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The FGCU men's golf team begins postseason play Tuesday in the 2023 ASUN Championship from Mobile, Ala.

The 54-hole championship awaits at Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, a 7,212-yard, par-72 test. Due to impending weather, 36 holes -- rounds one and two -- will be played Tuesday. The final round competition is set for Wednesday or Thursday, weather permitting.

The Eagles have posted back-to-back runner-up efforts at the ASUN Championship, including earning FGCU Athletics' first-ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament in 2022. In 2021, Van Holmgren captured FGCU's lone individual title at 9-under par.

FGCU enters the championship ranked No. 85 in the latest Golfstat.com rankings, eyeing the automatic ticket for a return back to the Dig Dance. Live results of the championship will also be available through Golfstat.com.

The Green & Blue posted four top-five team performances throughout the 2023 campaign, with a season-best second at the Daniel Island Intercollegiate -- coming up just three shots shy of a top 25 Mississippi State squad for the team title.

As a team, the Eagles are averaging 291.73 over 30 rounds and across 10 tournaments. The Eagles posted a season-low round of 277 at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate.

FGCU will roll out junior Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS), fifth-year Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Hockerill Anglo-European College/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC), freshman Sam Baker (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS), junior Thomas Salanito (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic), and freshman Lukas Roessler (Santiago, Chile/Olimpo School) as the championship starting five. The Eagles will tee off on the front nine Tuesday beginning at 10:10 a.m.

Both Cherichella and Baker highlighted the ASUN All-Conference honors Monday for the Eagles, as Cherichella was named to the All-Academic and Second Team, while Baker landed on the All-Freshman squad.

Hopkins has produced a season-best tie for third on the individual leaderboard, Salanito tied for 19th, and Roessler tied for 45th.

For complete coverage of FGCU men's golf, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram @FGCU_MGolf, Facebook FGCU Men's Golf), and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. Eagles fans can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's golf and all 15 sport programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA
Danna is in his fourth year at the helm of the men's golf program with the Eagles earning FGCU's first-ever NCAA Tournament at-large berth in department history during the 2022 season. He has led the Eagles to second-place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 ASUN Championships and was named the program's first-ever ASUN Coach of the Year (2021) and repeated in 2022. One of the best turnarounds in NCAA history saw the Green and Blue, led by Van Holmgren who became the first player to earn PING All-Region honors, jump from No. 257 in the final 2019-20 GolfStat.com rankings to a then program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. The Eagles set a new program-best during the 2022 season at No. 47 in the GolfStat.com rankings. Holmgren won the ASUN Championship individual title to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. Before taking over in Fort Myers, he served the 2018-19 season as the assistant at LSU. Prior to that he was the ultra-successful head coach for six years at Lynn University where he led them to the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship and was, subsequently, chosen the David Williams National Coach of the Year. He also led the Fighting Knights to three national runner-up placements, with a third and eighth place finish in his other two seasons.

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 FGCUCampus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.   

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 98 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 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 3.67 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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