FMU Golf Team honored with GCAA academic award
For the fifth year in a row, the Francis Marion University golf team has received a Golf Coaches Association of America 18Bridies All-Academic Team Award, this time for the 2017-18 academic year.
To be eligible for GCAA team recognition, a school must register a team grade point average of 3.00 or higher for the entire academic year.
Francis Marion was one of 127 NCAA Division I members nationwide to earn this honor, and the Patriots were one of seven Palmetto State institutions (joining Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University, Furman University, Presbyterian College, University of South Carolina, and USC Upstate).
“18Birdies is proud of the work these programs have accomplished off the course and to present this year’s Team Academic Awards,” said 18Birdies’ Founder and CEO, Eddy Lui. “We’ll continue to support the next generation of golfers as we know they will be the next leading voice to grow the game.”
18Birdies is the premier mobile and social golf platform powering the next generation of golf technology by reimagining the golf experience. 18Birdies aims to inspire golfers of all ages and skill levels by providing them tools to manage their game and motivating them through shared experiences with other golfers.
The 11-member FMU squad posted a 3.288 GPA for the 2017-18 academic year. Head coach Mark Gaynor’s team consisted of seniors Alessandro Caselli (Vimercate, Italy), Marc Casullo (Aurora, Ontario, Canada), and Callum McGuigan (Crieff, Scotland); junior Lars Sandvoll (Bergen, Norway); sophomores Haakon Andersen (Stabekk, Norway) and Mark Goodall (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK); and freshmen John Burghardt (Oakville, Ontario, Canada), Jacob Morris (Hollywood, SC), Michael Rials (Florence), Zeke Steen (Hartsville), and McClure Thompson (Little River, SC).
On the course, the Patriots recorded six Top-10 showings in 11 tournaments, including a fifth-place finish at the Camden Collegiate invitational in the fall. The team registered a 297.97 stroke average for the year.
Earlier this summer, Caselli earned prestigious Google Cloud Academic All-District Team honors.
