FGCU MGOLF: Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate Day Two Recap

The FGCU men's golf team ascended two spots to land 12th after Tuesday's final round of the 2019 Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate, which was held at the par-71, 6,943-yard Richland Country Club.

The tournament was originally scheduled for 54 holes, but rain during Monday's early session forced the event to be cut to 36 holes.

The Eagles improved nine strokes from rounds one to two and landed at 39-over-par 607 (308-299). That included shooting 2-under as a team on the final combined stretch of four holes. They were nearly able to run down 11th-place Xavier, who finished at 34-over 602 (296-306).

USC Upstate - the tournament's highest-ranked team at No. 122 in the latest GolfStat rankings - won the event at 5-over 573 (292-281), while Southern Miss finished runner-up at 8-over 576 (289-287). Samford was third at 14-over 582 (285-297), host Lipscomb landed fourth at 18-over 586 (297-289), and Austin Peay rounded out the top five at 19-over 587 (295-292).

"We still have some work to do on these greens, but we definitely saw some improvement between yesterday's round and today," FGCU coach Eric Booker said. "Andrew, especially, had a great round. I was happy with his performance. We were solid again tee to green, but we will need to continue to work on our lag putting between now and the conference tournament."

After struggling in the opening round, senior Andrew Potter rocketed 43 spots up the leaderboard thanks to a blistering 2-under 69 Tuesday. He ended the event tied for 23rd at 5-over 147 (78-69). True freshman Tate Heintzelman repeated his first-round performance and tied for 38th at 10-over 152 (76-76), while sophomore Cole Castro was one stroke behind in a tie for 47th at 11-over 153 (77-76).

True freshman Chase Bigham landed T-57 at 13-over 155 (77-78), while sophomore J.T. Barker finished solo 85th at 24-over 166 (83-83).

Brian Richards of Southern Miss took home medalist honors after shooting 5-under 137 (70-67).

RYMAN HOSPITALITY INTERCOLLEGIATE – Final Results
April 8-9, 2019 at Nashville, Tenn.
(par-71, 6,943-yard Richland Country Club)

Team Results
1. #122 USC Upstate 292-281=573 (+5)
2. #154 Southern Miss 289-287=576 (+8)
3. #164 Samford 285-297=582 (+14)
4. #208 Lipscomb 297-289=586 (+18)
5. #171 Austin Peay 295-292=587 (+19)
6. #184 Bradley 286-302=588 (+20)
7. North Alabama 296-293=589 (+21)
8. #160 Bowling Green 296-302=598 (+30)
T9. #180 Belmont 295-304=599 (+31)
#226 Omaha 292-307=599 (+31)
11. #220 Xavier 296-306=602 (+34)
12. #147 FGCU 308-299=607 (+39)
13. #166 North Dakota State 304-305=609 (+41)
14. #238 Loyola-Chicago 299-314=613 (+45)
15. #237 Stetson 310-307=617 (+49)
16. Lipscomb (B) 316-316=632 (+64)

Rankings reflect the latest Golfstat Rankings
Top-5 Individuals
1. Brian Richards (Southern Miss) 70-67=137 (-5)
2. Jordan Warnock (USC Upstate) 72-67=139 (-3)
T3. Eric Gilpin (Lipscomb) 74-67=141 (-1)
Payton Massey (North Alabama) 71-70=141 (-1)
Charles Jahn (Bradley) 68-73=141 (-1)
Rodrigue Vie (Bowling Green) 69-72=141 (-1)

FGCU Individuals
T23. Andrew Potter 78-69=147 (+5)
T38. Tate Heintzelman 76-76=152 (+10)
T47. Cole Castro 77-76=153 (+11)
T57. Chase Bigham 77-78=155 (+13)
85. J.T. Barker 83-83=166 (+24)

Up Next:
FGCU will compete April 21-23 at the 2019 A-SUN Championships in Braselton, Georgia. The Eagles finished fifth at last year's conference tournament.