Live Stats (Team Leaderboard)
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- Franklin & Marshall men's golf looks to improve upon their 27th place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championship, teeing off at Mission Inn Resort and Club this morning for the first round of the national tourney. It marks the school's 15th trip to the Championship, and seventh in eight years.
F&M sends a team of Roy Anderson, Jas Fuhrer, Michael Gallagher, Shane Lawler, and Dominic Sculti to the par-71, 6792-yard Las Colinas course and the par-72, 6748 yard El Campeon course. All five golfers are averaging within nearly a stroke-and-a-half of each other, ranging from Sculti's 74.3 to Gallagher's 75.9 average. Sculti, Fuhrer and Anderson currently rank third, fourth, and sixth in Diplomat history for season average.
Three of those golfers (Fuhrer, Gallagher, and Sculti) all have experience participating in the NCAA Championship, part of the team last year that started out in 15th place, before settling just below the cut on Day Two to finish 27th.
The Diplomats' best finish came back in 1987, when F&M finished seventh in the field. More recently, the team has finished as best as 12th in 2016.
Sculti leads the way for the Diplomats, following a record-breaking performance at the Centennial Conference (CC) Championship. Sculti became the ninth Diplomat and first since 2018 to receive the CC Player of the Year nod. The sophomore set new single-round (66) and 36-hole (137) records, while tying the 54-hole record (212) at the CC Championship. Sculti became F&M's eighth conference champion, and sixth to go wire-to-wire at the Championship. His 74.3 scoring average through 16 rounds ranks tops among the Diplomats this year, third in F&M history, and sixth in Centennial history.
Anderson has impressed in his first season with the Diplomats, culminating in a second place performance at the CC Championship. Anderson's 74.9 average ranks third on the team His best finishes came in the fall, putting up a one-under performance at the Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic to finish third, then finishing fourth at the Gino Biondi Memorial Tournament. In the spring, the first-year put together a pair of top-25 finishes - ending tied for 20th at the McDaniel Spring Invitational and tied for 22nd at the F&M Spring Invitational.
Fuhrer finished +20 in last year's national tourney, including a blistering 73 on the first day that placed him in a tie for 23rd. Fuhrer came on strong to finish off the spring - tying for third place at the CC Championship, shooting 72-73-72 across the tournament. He's finished third in his last three outings, including shooting +4 at the Garden State Collegiate Classic and +1 at the F&M Spring Invitational.
Gallagher seeks to improve on his +23 effort in last year's NCAA Championship. Gallagher has impressed this spring, grabbing a medalist finish at the Dickinson Spring Invitational with an even-par 72, then finishing second at the Garden State Collegiate Classic the following weekend with a +3 effort.
Lawler has turned in more top-ten finishes than anyone on the squad, with six such finishes in his last eight outings across the fall and spring. He shook off an opening round 81 to finish +1 across his final two rounds to finish in a tie for 11th at the CC Championship. A medalist finish at the Gino Biondi Memorial Tournament and second place final at F&M's Spring Invitational highlights his tremendous rookie season for the Diplomats.
