FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University men's golf tees off the spring season Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at the Sea Best Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville University.
Fourteen teams will converge at TPC Sawgrass, a 6,790-yard par-70 course, for the two-day tournament. The strong field comprises Campbell, Cal Poly, Florida, Florida Atlantic, FGCU, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Lipscomb, Louisville, North Florida, UCF, USC Upstate and UTSA.
Rounds one and two of the event are scheduled for Monday, with the final round of play set for Tuesday's action. FGCU will roll out two freshmen and three seniors at the Sea Best Invitational: Austin Cherichella, Joseph Sullivan, Brody Stevenson, Christian Figueredo and Matt Millar.
FGCU closed the fall season with a historic run, breaking not one but five records in Hawaii. FGCU turned in a program record 21-under-par score. FGCU continued its historic charge by breaking the 36-hole to-par score at 30-under. The Green and Blue finished 51-under as a team, another program record. FGCU's aggregate three-round score of 813 shattered the previous record of 832.
The Eagles also won the Badger Invitational in the fall and soared to No. 48 in the national rankings, the fourth tournament title for fifth-year head coach Andrew Danna. FGCU emerged just one spot shy of tying a program-best ranking. FGCU enters its first spring tournament ranked No. 50 overall, averaging 283.87 per round.
Five Eagles hold a sub-72 round average. Thomas Salanito, Stevenson, Cherichella and Sullivan all possess a round average in the 70s. Individually, Sullivan is ranked in the top 150 in the nation and won the Valero Texas Collegiate in September. With the win, Sullivan (-6, 210) earned an exemption into the 2024 Valero Texas Open, which will be played March 30-April 2.
