LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – FGCU women's golf head coach Shannon Sykora won the 46th FSGA Florida Senior Open Championship on Wednesday at Lakewood National Golf Club.
Fresh off of coaching his Eagles squad to a runner-up team finish at the 2023 ASUN Championship in Huntsville, Ala., Sykora turned in a Sunshine State title by oulasting Steve Vecellio in a three-hole playoff.
"It's an unexpected win," Sykora said. "I don't play as much as DD (David Deiros), our softball coach, but when I do have the opportunity to compete in a great tournament, it's a lot of fun for me."
Sykora opened the annual three-day event with a 2-over 73, but caught fire during Tuesday's moving-day action -- making the cut and climbing up 29 spots with a 4-under 68.
Skyora was tied for seventh entering Wednesday's final round, just four strokes back of tournament leader Vecellio.
Sykora fired a 3-under 69 in the final round to take Wednesday's clubhouse lead at 6-under. Vecellio birdied his final hole during his final-round 73 to force the playoff.
Sykaora hit the course again, captured the title in the playoff fashion, and officially beat out former PGA Tour standouts like Gary Koch, Guy Boros and Skip Kendall. In 2022, Gene Fieger also survived a playoff battle to with the 45th Florida Senior Open Championship at Miromar Lakes Golf & Beach Club.
At the helm of the Eagles in his first year, Sykora oversaw one team title, two individual medalists, two all-conference selections, and the lowest 54-hole team total in program history.
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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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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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