Golf fans, get excited. For the first time since 2021, college golf is returning to Southwest Florida. From Oct. 6-7, FGCU men's golf will be hosting The Island at West Bay Collegiate Invitational at the West Bay Club in Estero.
“Coach (Andrew) Danna and I have been waiting and looking forward to this for a couple of years," West Bay Club head golf professional Danny Butts said.
“I think it’s great for our community, it’s great for our team, it’s great for our university, it’s great for everybody," FGCU men's golf head coach Andrew Danna added.
This is the first time the Southwest Florida golf community will be able to watch and cheer on its local collegiate players since 2021. The tournament will be open to the public and will even have some extra opportunities for our local golf fans. They will have a juniors clinic for any youth golfers. Plus, there is an opportunity for some local golfers to play with the college players.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for our community to watch our guys play," Danna said.
The tournament is also stacked with talent. Fourteen teams are coming to Southwest Florida to battle it out, and nine of those teams rank in the top 100 nationally.
“The field is going to be tremendous," Butts said. "There’s going to be future PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour players playing in this event.”
The Eagles are hoping to host home tournaments more often, which will help them soar into the national spotlight.
“This is sort of the final step in helping the program reach its new level," Butts said. "We feel like it should be one of the premier programs in the country.”
They are well on their way to that. FGCU sent a player to the NCAA Tournament last season and was on the bubble to make the national tournament as a team. The program has been getting better and better in recent years and has an extremely bright future. Danna said he just brought in one of the best freshman classes he's ever recruited. So, the Eagles have high expectations this season.
“When we get our consistencies, we start paying attention to detail, get our routines down, we’re going to have some success," Danna said.
FGCU men's golf begins its fall slate on Sept. 16 at the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Eagles will then go to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the Rod Myers Invitational before coming home for the first-ever The Island at West Bay Collegiate Invitational that starts on Oct. 6.