The FGCU men's golf team will open its fall season with the three-day Golfweek Program Challenge. Action begins Sunday at the par-72, 7,126-yard True Blue Golf Club.
The event will also feature the FGCU women's golf team, and the unique tournament features the men's and women's teams from 14 different schools competing with the scores from both squads added together from the three-day, 54-hole stroke play event to determine the Golfweek Program Challenge champion.
"Good team chemistry with our co-captains assisting us in providing more team continuity and support is showing results as we prepare to grow as a team unit," FGCU men's golf head coach Eric Booker said. "Communication, different swings and putting drills have been helping us simplify our focus on things."
Booker will be utilizing the following lineup beginning Sunday:
Junior Doug Smith
Sophomore Cole Castro
Freshman Chase Bigham
Senior Andrew Potter
Junior Logan Price
Potter is the veteran of the group. The lone senior in the lineup was one of only three players to compete in all 11 tournaments last year, and he tied for the team-high in rounds played with 29.
A pair of juniors, Smith and Price, will assist Potter in providing leadership. Smith was also one of three players to compete in all 11 tournaments last year. He had four top-15 finishes and recorded four par-or-better rounds.
Price, meanwhile, is in his first year with the Green and Blue after competing at Tiffin University his first two seasons. Last year, he helped lead them to an NCAA Division-II national championship.
Despite being just a sophomore, Castro is coming off a great rookie year. He was the A-SUN's Golfer of the Week on March 8, and he eventually earned a spot on the conference's A-SUN All-Freshman Team. He finished third on the team with a 75.43 stroke average and was the medalist at the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate on March 6.
Bigham rounds out the lineup as a true freshman.
"Chase and Logan have been playing well coming into the season, so it's no surprise they qualified this week to start the year," Booker said. "We have some nice depth on the team and 10 players that could play at any given time. Improved maturity over the summer has helped make the team very competitive."
Complete Field (Sorted by GolfStat ranking as of June 7)
60 - Campbell
135 - South Dakota
139 - Jacksonville State
143 - Old Dominion
148 - Gardner-Webb
150 - Stephen F. Austin State
162 – Bradley
173 – FGCU
176 - Austin Peay
219 – Delaware
220 - Tennessee Tech
255 - Presbyterian College
260 - Valparaiso
279 - Alabama State
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