IOWA CITY, Iowa – In preparation for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Championship, the University of South Alabama men's golf team is approaching the event in a way that hasn't been tried in nearly a decade — by playing a tournament one week prior to the start of postseason competition.

The Jaguars will close out the regular season at the Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational this weekend, then tee off at the league championship on Sunday, April 24.  Although not the traditional path to the postseason, USA head coach Ben Hannan had a reason behind the method.

"The schedule sometimes dictates what and where you play.  After finishing at Mississippi State we had almost three weeks until the SBC Conference Championship," he explained.  "We were fortunate and got the opportunity to travel out of the region and play in the Hawkeye Invitational, which fit our schedule well.  It's good competition, which I think helps us continue to get experience in preparation for next week.

"I think the more this group experiences tournament play, the more we learn," Hannan added.  "If we can apply what we continue to learn, then we are getting better each and every week and hopefully peaking at the end of April.  No doubt, the golf course, grass and such will be different, but competition is still competition and that's good for us.  We're looking forward to playing well and gaining some confidence moving forward."

Three of the five Jags in the lineup for the tournament played at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship the first week of April.  Peter Staalbo was third in the individual standings, Jason Mendel recorded a top-30 finish and Daniel Jansen carded a 75 on the opening day of the event as South ended up 11th in a field of 16 teams.  The trio will be joined by Drew Cooke and Ryan Pope.

It was Staalbo's third top-20 result in four tournaments this spring, as he has posted a 72.42 stroke average since joining the program at the start of the semester.  He began play last time out with scores 69 and 70 on the opening day — his fourth and fifth rounds at or below par — before carding a 2-under-par 214 54-hole total; Staalbo was just one of three individuals to break par at the event.

Mendel shot an even-par 72 in the second round at Mississippi State, giving him five rounds of par or better on the season while helping lower his scoring average to 74.54.  After tying for 28th individually, it was the sophomore's best finish while in the lineup since coming in a tie for 21st at the Sun Belt Conference Fall Preview Sept. 26-27.

Jansen has competed in all eight of the Jags' events this year, recording a 74.29 stroke average that includes a team-high 10 scores of par or better.  He has a pair of top-10 results to his credit and has finished below par after 54 holes twice as well, while his 231 total at MSU was his lowest three-round score since posting a 220 figure at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate in the first tournament of the spring.

Cooke is tied for the team lead with three top-20 performances, with the last of those coming at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate after he shot an even-par 216 to tie for 17th place.  The junior is carrying a 75.13 scoring average, and he has twice posted two rounds of par or below at the same event.

This will mark Pope's first appearance in the lineup since the season-opening Sam Hall Intercollegiate, as he has played seven rounds this year and has a 78.00 stroke average.  In his last event on March 7-8, he finished 11th out of 55 competitors at the Badger Invitational with a 54-hole 228 total.

Play will get underway Saturday at the par-72, 7,239-yard Finkbine Golf Course with a 9 a.m. (CDT) shotgun start, with two rounds scheduled to be completed.  The final 18 holes are set for Sunday, with action once again beginning with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.  Live scoring throughout the event can be found at www.golfstat.com.

A total of 14 teams will be competing in the tournament including three from both the Big Ten (host Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska) and Big 12 (Iowa State, No. 41 Kansas, Kansas State).  Also in the field will be Denver, DePaul, Idaho, Missouri-Kansas City, South Dakota State, Southern Methodist — rated 48th in the country — and Wichita State.

This marks the first time on record that the Jaguars will compete in the Hawkeye State — Hannan is a native of the state, born in Mason City — as well as the first time since April 1991 that the program will play in an event hosted by a Big Ten member.

"I'm originally from Iowa, so it will be a lot of fun to get back to Iowa City.  And it's a tournament we've never played before, which is always fun," explained Hannan.  "We try to play an event like this once or twice a year as it's always a good education and if we make postseason there's always that chance the NCAA selection committee sends you to a different region somewhere else."

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).

—USA—