OPELIKA, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's golf team will follow the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail north when its spring season continues this week, moving from the Jaguars' home course at Magnolia Grove to the Grand National Lake Course when play gets underway Sunday at the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner.
Last time out at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate, the Jags placed sixth in a field of 15 schools with a 2-over-par 866 total; that was their best score in relation to par this season as well as their best finish since coming in third at the Sun Belt Conference Fall Preview the final weekend of September. As a squad, USA broke par in each of the final two rounds of the tournament, with Peter Staalbo ending up second in the final individual standings after carding a 7-under-par 209 54-hole total and Drew Cooke also finishing in the top 20 with an even-par score over two days.
But according to Jaguar head coach Ben Hannan there is no advantage to remaining on the RTJ Trail in their ensuing tournament. "We've had a good, productive week trying to prepare the best we can for the Lake Course at Auburn. It is set up and plays differently than our Robert Trent Jones golf course, so we have been focusing on shots we'll most likely have in preparation for the event," he explained.
Daniel Jansen and Brooks Rabren recorded totals of 220 and 221, respectively, last time out, with one change to the lineup following the first tournament of the spring. Jason Mendel — who tied for eighth at the USA Individual Tournament — will compete for the Jags, while Ally Purdy will participate in the Auburn event as an individual.
Jansen paces the Jaguars in scoring average with a 72.07 figure over 15 rounds this year, as he has shot par or better on nine occasions after accomplishing the feat twice at USA's spring-opening event. Mendel has a 73.30 stroke average while Rabren is averaging 73.60 shots per 18 holes — both have competed in 15 rounds to date — with Cooke posting a 74.00 average after playing in each of the last four tournaments. Purdy has recorded a 76.50 scoring average over 12 rounds, while Staalbo's performance last month came in his debut with the program.
No. 5 Auburn and fellow Southeastern Conference member Kentucky — which stands 25th in this week's Golfstat rankings — headline a field that also includes Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Southeastern Louisiana, Troy, Tulsa and Virginia Commonwealth. Starting Sunday, the tournament format will include three rounds in three days at the par-72, 7,149-yard venue with play beginning each day at 7:45 a.m. (CST) on Nos. 1 and 10. Live updates can be found at www.golfstat.com each day of the event.
The Jaguars' opening round will tee off from the first hole beginning at 9:15 a.m., as they will be paired with Mississippi State and UNCG.
This will mark the fourth year in a row that the Jags are competing in Auburn's event, with USA having finished fourth in the final team standings on two occasions after accomplishing the feat again in 2015. Tyler Klava recorded a 5-under-par 67 in the second round to key the Jaguars' 283 group total that day — two strokes shy of the team's lowest last spring — as he would go on to finish tied for ninth individually with a 3-under-par 213 54-hole score. Mendel shot even par to close out the event while Jansen improved his score each round including a 73 over the last 18 holes.
"Each year is a little bit different," Hannan stated. "Three of the five guys [in the lineup] have seen the course before, two of them participated in last year's event and Brooks — even though he is a freshman — played a junior event there in the past. In our practice round, we'll use our past experience to focus on pin locations, lines and shot selections, and hopefully helping the new guys get comfortable with situations they might see during the tournament.
"Everything coming into the spring was set up with the process of getting better each week; this particular tournament doesn't change anything outside of focusing on that goal," he continued. "We're a better team than we were in the fall, however, we have to continue to improve in order to meet our goals at the end of the year."
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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