MOBILE, Ala. — The University of South Alabama women's golf spring schedule features four tournaments leading up to the Sun Belt Conference Championships, as announced Thursday by head coach Matt Luther.


"We're keeping with our process goals.  We're wanting to get better and we're figuring out how to get better," Luther said.  "We obviously want to win tournaments and do well in the Sun Belt.  We put in work every day just trying to be better than we were yesterday and in the end that will speak for itself.


 "In the offseason, we had a lot of individual work.  We shut it down early in the fall so that we could have some time to really focus on individuals.  We had four or five weeks where we were really able to focus on individual work and sit down with each player and address what we needed to.  Hopefully, we pushed the right buttons for the spring." 


The Jaguars will open their spring schedule in state when they travel to Birmingham for the Samford Intercollegiate (Feb. 13).  The one-day tournament will feature two rounds and be held at the par 72, 5,893-yard Greystone Golf and Country Club. 


"It's a good opportunity to get out and play some tournament-golf," Luther stated.  "We start practice as soon as school starts Jan. 9 and we don't really play a larger tournament until almost March, so this is a great opportunity for us to get out and compete."


South Alabama will have a week-and-a-half off before traveling to South Carolina for the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate hosted by the College of Charleston on Feb. 26-28. This tournament will consist of 54 holes over a three-day span at the Osprey Point Course. 


"It's a big tournament with a 40-team field," Luther said.  "It's a chance for us to pick up a bunch of wins early, help our ranking and let us really see where we are coming into the spring.  A couple of our players have been there before; it's a good tournament and Kiawah is a big golf town.  More than anything, it's an opportunity for us to see where we are.  A good finish there could really help our spring get rolling."


South Alabama will then get a two-week break before hosting the Bama Beach Bash in conjointement with UAB in Gulf Shores, Ala., held March 17-19, at the Gulf Shores golf course.  This will be the first time the Jaguars and Blazers will co-host a tournament together. .  


"Gulf Shores has shown us great support and it would be silly for us to not to go play golf down at the beach," Luther said.  "It's an opportunity, just like our fall event, to build a tournament that we want to play in.  A lot of tournaments at our level are usually a Monday and Tuesday with 36 holes and we don't get to play a lot of weekend — Friday, Saturday, Sunday.  We wanted to have that opportunity and hosting this event provides that for us.". 


"This will be the first year doing this tournament and we've gotten a good reaction.  I think having hosted good tournaments in the past has built this one up with our fall event taking off.  We have now hosted two pretty big college golf tournaments and that's great for our program."


A week later, the Jags will travel to Stockbridge, Ga., for the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate (March 26-28) hosted by fellow Sun Belt member Georgia State.  The tournament will be held at the Eagle's Landing Country Club consisting of 54 holes over the three days. 


"There should be a bunch of Sun Belt teams there and it will be a similar golf course to what we're going to see in the Sun Belt Championship," Luther said.  "It's a hard golf course and historically we haven't done well there, so we're hoping to really do well and really show that this is who we are now." 


The Jaguars will round out their regular season at the Jan Weaver Murray State Invitational (April 7-8) at the Miller Golf Course.  The Racers' two-day tournament will have 36 holes on the first day and 18 the second. 


"This will be our last competition before the Sun Belt Championship and we want to end the regular season on a good note by doing well," Luther said.  "It's Madison Connell's hometown and her home golf course so we're looking forward to making that trip and it should be special for her."


The Jags will then have two weeks to prepare for the Sun Belt Championships. 


"At that point, the hay is in the barn and it's time to play some golf," Luther said.  "We'll be playing a lot those two weeks when we're competing against each other.  We're going to try and get up there early; having three players on our roster who have never been there.  Obviously, it's the biggest tournament of the year for us; that's our ticket to postseason and we want to punch it. 


The Sun Belt Conference Championships will be held April 17-19 at the Robert Trent Jones the Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Ala.  The winner of the tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to NCAA Regional play, which is scheduled for May 5-7 at four national sites.


For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).


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