The FGCU men's golf team finished strong to vault into fourth after Friday's first round of the FAU Spring Championship, which is being held at the par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club.
After hovering around the 10th position through the opening 11 holes, the Eagles combined to shoot 5-under-par across the remaining seven to land at even-par 288 for the day. Bethune-Cookman leads the way after firing a 6-under 282, while UCF and host Florida Atlantic are tied for second at 2-under 286.
"I always say you can't win the tournament on the first day, but you can certainly lose it," FGCU coach Eric Booker said. "Andrew and Cole played some solid golf in those winds that were gusting up to 40 mph at times. Tate had a hard-fought round. He played 16 holes really well but had just a few shots that ruined what could have been an even better day. Chase and J.T. struggled, but I feel their games will bounce back."
Sophomore Cole Castro was the only player in the entire field to finish bogey-free, and he poured in four birdies to shoot 4-under 68. He is tied for second with BCU's Jake Lane and sits one stroke back of UCF's Bobby Bai. Senior Andrew Potter finished at 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for sixth. He made par on his first 10 holes and went birdie-eagle to close out his day.
Both Castro and Potter have now shot under par four times this spring, and Castro registered his second sub-70 round of 2019.
True freshmen Tate Heintzelman (2-over 74) and Chase Bigham (4-over 76) are tied for 33rd and 48th, respectively, while sophomore J.T. Barker landed T-66 at 7-over 79.
The Eagles will begin their second round teeing off on the first hole Saturday at 10:50 a.m.
FAU SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP – First Round Results
March 29-31, 2019 at Boca Raton, Fla.
(par-72, 6,786-yard Osprey Point Golf Club)
Team Results
1. #177 Bethune-Cookman 282 (-6)
T2. #168 Florida Atlantic 286 (-2)
#75 UCF 286 (-2)
4. #148 FGCU 288 (E)
5. #133 Southern Illinois 290 (+2)
T6. Miami (OH) 292 (+4)
#193 George Mason 292 (+4)
T8. #228 Houston Baptist 295 (+7)
#251 Hartford 295 (+7)
#197 Georgetown 295 (+7)
11. #135 UConn 296 (+8)
12. #227 Rhode Island 299 (+11)
13. #241 Murray State 306 (+18)
14. #195 Xavier 216 (+28)
Rankings reflect the latest Golfstat Rankings
Top-5 Individuals
1. Bobby Bai (UCF) 67 (-5)
T2. Cole Castro (FGCU) 68 (-4)
Jake Lane (Bethune-Cookman) 68 (-4)
T4. Sully Zagerman (Florida Atlantic) 69 (-3)
Connor Messick (George Mason) 69 (-3)
FGCU Individuals
T2. Cole Castro 68 (-4)
T6. Andrew Potter 70 (-2)
T33. Tate Heintzelman 74 (+2)
T48. Chase Bigham 76 (+4)
T66. J.T. Barker 79 (+7)
Quotes from Other Coaches:
Rhode Island: It was a disappointing day for us overall as we felt we could shoot even par as a team. When one player has half of your birdies, it is not a good team effort," said RI head coach Gregg Burke.
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