KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – After six rounds of qualifying for the University of South Alabama men's golf team's initial event of the 2016-17 season, it turns out first-year head coach Alex Hamilton won't be the only Jaguar making his debut with the program on Monday.

That's because, in addition to upperclassmen Peter Staalbo and Drew Cooke, the other three members of the line-up will be competing for the Jags for the first time as well.  Junior-college transfer Sylas Elliott is set to be joined by freshmen Rasmus Karlsson and Yannick Schütz when play begins at The Invitational at the Ocean Course.

The event — the first of five this semester for South — will include 36 holes on the opening day, beginning with a 6:30 a.m. (CDT) shotgun start, with the final round set to tee off at the same time on Tuesday.  The field of 16 schools includes six programs that qualified for an NCAA Regional in the spring, with three other schools' line-ups' featuring an individual regional participant.

"This tournament definitely features a great golf course and a great field," Hamilton observed.  "But golf is a little bit different than some other sports, it's not so much about X's and O's and game planning against other schools, so who is in the field is not important to me.  If we do our job, pay attention to how we are supposed to play the golf course and execute to the best of our ability, I think we are going to do quite well."

When action gets underway at the par-72, 7,115-yard Kiawah Island Resort Ocean Course, the Jaguars will be on hole Nos. 5-9 with fellow Sun Belt Conference members Georgia Southern and Troy as well as Augusta; the latter two were 2016 NCAA qualifiers.  Other teams in the field to make postseason play a season ago include host Charleston, Charleston Southern, Georgia State and Virginia Commonwealth, while Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Francis Marion, Maryland, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Winthrop and West Virginia will be competing as well.

Staalbo is one of the three individuals playing this week who earned a berth in an NCAA Regional in May.  In his first season as a Jaguar, Staalbo posted a 72.81 scoring average, five top-20 results and 10 rounds of par or better in seven events after joining the program following the fall semester.  He recorded a 5-under-par 67 in his first-ever collegiate competition in the second of two rounds on the opening day of the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate to come in second in a field of 75, also finishing third with a 2-under-par 214 total at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship.

Cooke also played in seven events for the Jags last year after transferring from Eastern Florida State J.C., posting a 75.38 stroke average and six scores at or below par.  In his USA debut, Cooke fired a 2-under-par 69 over the opening 18 holes of the Sun Belt Conference Fall Preview — he would go on to tie for 18th place in the individual standings — while matching that score in the final round of the league tournament at the same venue in April to help the Jaguars move on to match play.

Elliott was a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-American at Wallace State (Ala.) C.C., tying for eighth place individually last spring with a 6-under-par 282 total over 72 holes.  He helped the Lions qualify for the tournament his freshman year by making the final putt on the first playoff hole after claiming medalist honors in the individual competition; Elliott also carded a 9-under-par 63 last season to repeat as medalist at the Wallace State Fall Invitational.

Karlsson was a member of the Finnish national team that competed at the European Amateur Team Championship this summer, and he also made the cut at the European Amateur Championship — recording a four-round 289 total that included a 70 on the third day of the tournament — prior to the start of the fall semester.  In 2015, he posted top-15 finishes at 10 of the 14 tournaments he competed at including coming in second at the Estonian Amateur Open and reaching the finals of the Finnish Junior Match Play Championship.

Schütz had 15 scores of par or better at 15 events in 2015, with his best finish at the Curro South African Juniors International after tying for third in a field of 104 players with a 2-under-par 214 total.  In addition to recording top-10 results at both the German Boys Open and the German National Boys Championship, his efforts helped Germany win the European Boys' Team Championship that year.  This season he came in eighth place at the Swiss Amateur Championship after posting a three-round score of 216.

Not one member of the line-up was with the program the last time USA competed in this tournament, when the Jaguars finished in second place in the fall of 2013.  But that won't prevent Hamilton from having the Jags' five prepared when the event begins.

"The goal is that we will be able to sit down and hash out a game plan for everybody," he said.  "I don't think we need a stereotypical game plan for all five guys.  We need to find the strengths of each one of them, see how we're playing the golf course and what the wind will do each day, then look at where the pins are in the morning so we can find a way to take advantage of some of the holes out there."

Although some of the faces may be new, the start of another season means the excitement level is high within the program as the Jaguars return to the course officially for the first time April.

"I think we are fired up.  The kids have been working really hard, I have been very happy with how they have been performing in practice," said Hamilton.  "They've been busting their tails in every area including the weight room and academically, hopefully we can keep that up and play well at Kiawah."

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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