FGCU W-Golf: MSU Citrus Classic Recap

The FGCU women’s golf team wrapped up a shortened round game as they claimed first out of 14 teams in the Morehead State Citrus Classic at the Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla, hosted by Morehead State. The MSU Citrus Classic is the Eagles’ first outright tournament championship they won since the Southern Illinois Spring Lake Invitational in 2008. The most recent share of a first place finish came on Sept. 16, 2013, where the Eagles tied for first in the FGCU Eagles Invitational with NCAA DII Barry University.

"I am ecstatic about our play this week," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said after the tournament's final round was called due to bad weather. "This tournament, we really stuck to our process goals and functioned well as a cohesive unit. We played very consistently throughout the tournament. All of our rounds were very strong across the board. We had a lot of distractions that could have derailed us. Yesterday, we came off the course a couple times and as the conditions got tougher, so did we. I don't think we did anything flashy but just hung tough and came away with the W."

All six Eagles finished in the top 25 of the tournament as a team and in individual. It was sophomore Kate Williamson’s performance that helped pave the way for the Eagles to claim first place. Williamson, who entered day two with tied for fifth place, was able to finish tied for second place with Morehead State's Sarah Debnekoff, Austin Peay State's Reagan Greene, and High Point University's Tonrak Tasaso. The Deerfield Beach native finished +4 with an overall score of 148 (74-74). With a 74 in each of her two rounds, Williamson was five strokes behind Michaela Fabiankova of Keiser (NAIA) for first place, but it was her best finish and the third sub-75 score for this year.

"I am very proud of Kate for her top three finish. She was so solid for us. We are excited about getting back out there again this weekend in Georgia," said Trew on Willamson's performance.

Junior Kelsy Holbert and freshman Natalia Nassar would finish tied for sixth and ninth respectively. Holbert, who began with tied for 11th, would finish with a +5 and an overall score of 149 (76-73) while Nassar, who began tied for first place, finished with a +6 and a score of 150 (76-73).

Junior Madeline Marck-Sherk began tied for 20th, but was able to finish tied for 12th with a +9 and an overall score of 153 (78-75), while senior Madison Easterbrook began tied for 11th before finishing tied for 19th with a +10 and an overall score of 154 (76-78).

Sophomore Ailsa Clark represented the Eagles as an individual as she finished tied for tied for 12th with a +9 overall and a final score of 153 (80-73).

The Eagles have now finished fifth or better in five of last seven tournaments since the start of the fall season, including four straight.

Team Standings:
1. #120 - FGCU - 297-300---597 (+21)
T-2. #84 - Murray State - 306-303---609 (+33)
T-2. #12 Keiser (NAIA) - 302-307---609 (+33)
4. #197 - Austin Peay - 312-298---610 (+34)
5. #215 - Morehead State - 311-307---618 (+42)
6. #177 - Western Illinois - 318-301---619 (+43)
7. #1 Savannah College of Art and Design (NAIA) - 312-309---621 (+45)
8. #169 - High Point - 311-311---622 (+46)
9. #234 - Western Carolina - 321-314---635 (+59)
10. #243 - Siena College - 313-335---648 (+72)
11. #220 - Dayton - 331-319---650 (+74)
12. #253 - Eastern Illinois - 334-320---654 (+78)
13. #228 - Northern Kentucky - 325-335---660 (+84)
14. #59 IU-East (NAIA) - 375-370---745 (+169)

Quotes from Other Coaches:
Keiser: "We loved the beauty and strategic challenge of Red Tail. Our team played their hearts out and I could not be more proud of each and every one of them. A special shout out to Michaela (Fabiankova), who never faltered and played solid golf throughout, earning her second collegiate win," said assistant coach Debbie Dove said.

Austin Peay: "I'm so proud of this team's ability to fight," said interim head coach Amy McCollum. "They battled through three rain delays yesterday and fought some tough wind today for their round."

I'm really happy for Reagan's (Greene) second place finish," McCollum added. "She was solid all week. Anna Michelle played a great last two rounds. Even though today's round didn't count, we really got a lot out of it, which is only going to help us this weekend in Illinois."

Western Illinois: "We had a good second round and a very solid third," said head coach Lia Biehl Lukkarinen. "The third round won't count because not all of the teams were able to finish today, but we did have some good things to build on."

High Point: "It was a really frustrating week for us overall," High Point head coach Alexis Bennett said. "We had a really strong round going today before the wash out, so we are disappointed we weren't able to get round three in, but beyond that we have a lot of work to do, especially in our ability to close rounds out. We've given up a lot of strokes this spring on the final five holes."

IU East: "This tournament was a great learning experience," said IU East coach Brittany Whatley, a Morehead State alum. "We had a few bumps with the weather delays and the heat, but we fought through it. I saw continuous improvement throughout the week and am really proud of the hard work the team put in."

FGCU will return to action on March 25-27 in the John Kirk Panther Invitational. The three-day event will be hosted by Georgia State University in Stockbridge, Georgia.

*side note: After the event, I was more than happy to share the article I wrote on the whole team's win in the tournament and personally delivered it to her, and she loved it:

"@patrickeclines (my Instagram handle, now @big_patman91) just personally dropped of a copy of his @eaglenews article of our win yesterday. Thanks Patrick!"