FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The FGCU men's golf team heads to the Lone Star State this week to put a final chapter on the 2022-23 regular season at the Aggie Invitational in Bryan, Texas.

The Aggie Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M University, is a two-day, 54-hole tournament held at Traditions Golf Club -- a 7,227-yard, par-72 course. Rounds one and two are scheduled for Monday, with the final round set for Tuesday.

A total of 13 programs tee off Monday morning, including five Power Five institutions -- two of which are currently inside top 25 in the latest Golfstat.com rankings. The field also comprises of six top 50 programs. 

Comin in at No. 84, FGCU can make a statement for the NCAA Selection Committee just before the ASUN Championship on April 25-27. The Green & Blue has two top-three team finishes to its resume this season, the Daniel Island Intercollegiate (November) and The Hayt (February). Last time out, the Eagles tied for ninth at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.

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) is FGCU's projected starting five.

The Eagles are averaging a 291.48 as a team across nine tournaments and 27 rounds. Of the Lone Star State starting five, Cherichella leads all Eagles with 11 par-or-better rounds and holds a team-low round average of 72.78.

Both Cherichella and Hopkins have produced a season-best performance of third place on the individual leaderboards. Cherichella has also added a top 10 and top-15 effort to his 2022-23 highlights.

Teammate and fellow Eagle Baker has notched a season-best top 10 effort, while Salanito has pieced together a top-20 run.

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.

TEAMS:
No. 24 Baylor
No. 84 FGCU
No. 47 Houston
No. 51 Little Rock
No. 33 Louisville
No. 41 LSU
No. 76 Memphis
No. 79 New Mexico State
North Texas
No. 65 Sam Houston State
No. 38 TCU
No. 15 Texas A&M
UTSA

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 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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