The FGCU women's golf team fired a 287 (-1) and sit tied for fifth through the first of three rounds in the 42nd Pat Bradley Invitational at Lakewood Ranch Country Club on Sunday.
The Eagles are tied with Florida International among a stacked field that sees the 17 teams separated by just 21 strokes. The Eagles and Panthers sit just one stroke behind Stetson for fourth and four back of South Alabama in first. Additionally, the 287 is the sixth lowest round in program history and fifth lowest in relation to par.
10 Lowest Rounds in Program History
2018-19 - Spring Break Shootout - 281, 1st Round
2018-19 - 41st Annual FIU Pat Bradley - 283, 3rd Round
2018-19 - Johnie Imes Invitational - 284, 2nd Round
2018-19 - Spring Break Shootout - 285, 3rd Round
2018-19 - Johnie Imes Invitational - 286, 1st Round
2019-20 - 42nd Annual FIU Pat Bradley - 287, 1st Round
2019-20 - Johnie Imes Invitational - 289, 3rd Round
2018-19 - Lady Paladin Invitational - 289, 3rd Round
2017-18 - 40th Annual FIU Pat Bradley - 290, 2nd Round
2015-16 - ASUN Championship - 290, 2nd Round
"We had a solid start to the tournament today," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. "Everyone was pretty solid, and even if someone wasn't striking the ball as well as they wanted, they were able to put up a good score. Our upperclassmen stepped up for us with some low scores. Tomorrow, our focus is to keep our foot on the gas and try to put ourselves in a good position to come out with a win on Tuesday."
Those upperclassmen - Natalia Nassar and Ailsa Clark - both finished under par for the Green and Blue.
Nassar is currently tied for 10th after a 2-under 70. After opening 1-under on the front nine behind a birdie on the 12th hole, she recovered from her lone bogey with two more birdies on holes one and seven on the back nine.
Clark shot a 1-under 71 and sits tied for 16th. She started 1-over through her first six holes, but birdied the 16th and seventh holes.
Just behind those two Sarah Edwards, who had another solid performance with an even par 72. She birdied her first two holes and then persevered through four bogeys over a seven hole stretch by producing two more birdies on the third and sixth holes.
Another player who bounced back from some turbulence was Isabella Portokalis, who opened 4-over on her first seven holes. However, she birdied the 18th and went 1-under over the back nine to finish at 2-over.
Laura Edmonds rounded out the lineup with a 75. The sophomore tied Edwards with a team-high four birdies.
The start and the finish for FGCU proved to be valuable. After producing five birdies on the first three holes, they added six more over the final four.
Notes:
Interestingly, FGCU's top five lowest rounds all came last year, and the previous sixth-lowest round came this season in the Johnie Imes Invitational. Over the past year plus, the Eagles have produced the top eight lowest rounds and nine of the 11 best rounds in program history in relation to par.
Individual Results
T-10. Natalia Nassar - 70 (-2)
T-16. Ailsa Clark - 71 (-1)
T-22. Sarah Edwards - 72 (E)
T-35. Isabella Portokalis - 74 (+2)
T-43. Laura Edmonds - 75 (+3)
Team Standings (#GolfStat ranking as of Oct. 15)
1. #145 South Alabama - 283 (-5)
T-2. #127 Florida Atlantic - 285 (-3)
T-2. #135 Cincinnati - 285 (-3)
4. #112 Stetson - 286 (-2)
T-5. #126 FGCU - 287 (-1)
T-5. #90 Florida International - 287 (-1)
7. #75 Gonzaga - 291 (+3)
8. #200 UTRGV - 293 (+5)
T-9. #119 James Madison - 296 (+8)
T-9. #115 UTEP - 296 (+8)
T-9. #209 McNeese State - 296 (+8)
12. #151 Georgia State - 297 (+9)
13. #149 Eastern Michigan - 300 (+12)
T-14. #113 Northern Arizona - 303 (+15)
T-14. #152 Jacksonville - 303 (+15)
T-14. #194 Texas A&M Corpus Christi - 303 (+15)
17. #137 Missouri State - 304 (+16)
Quotes from Other Coaches:
Cincinnati: "Another great team effort today," said head coach Janet Carl. "We did not get to play a practice round so our freshmen had to play today without ever playing the course. They did a good job of making good decisions. Proud of Alyssa and Paighton for putting together under-par rounds, while Angela and Daniela both fought hard to put together rounds of 73 and 74 for our lowest one-day team score of the season. The entire team had good looks at birdie all day. We need to go out tomorrow and with the confidence from today, put together another great round. The team will fight to the finish."
Gonzaga: "It was a good start to the tournament today," head coach Brad Rickel said. "Having no practice round due to weather and with three of our players seeing a course with Bermuda grass for the first time, I am happy with our score. Quynn [Duong] is playing very solid golf, and I thought the whole team played hard all day. We will look to improve tomorrow after learning a lot today."
James Madison: "I was happy with the way we attacked the course today," said head coach Tommy Baker. "We started strong and put ourselves to move up the standings the rest of the week. We know we need to come out tomorrow with the same kind of focus and take a step forward."
Georgia State: “I’m really proud of the way the ladies thought their way around the course today,” head coach Jessica Steward said. “We let some opportunities escape us, but they didn’t let anything get to them and truly kept fighting. We could have hit the ball better, but we still managed to make an incredible 18 birdies. I’m hopeful that our scores will improve throughout the next couple of rounds.
“Chloe (Howard) keeps making great strides. She didn’t really feel like herself on the course at the start of the year, but she’s gaining a lot of confidence back with every round and I know under par will be so common for her in the future.”
Northern Arizona: "The back end was tough for us today," said head women's golf coach Brad Bedortha. "We had a decent bit of bogey's but there is room to improve tomorrow."
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