MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's golf program concluded the fall campaign with a pair of top-five results, helping the Jaguars make a jump of nearly 100 spots in the final national rankings from the end of the 2015-16 season.

After a break of more than three-and-a-half months, South will compete for the first time this spring when it plays host to the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate.  First-year Jag head coach Alex Hamilton hopes that his squad will pick up where it left off in October, but understands there is no guarantee that will happen.

"One of the interesting things about the sport that we play is the long break in between two sets of championship seasons, it creates a lot of uncertainty," he observed.  "You see it all the time where teams finish strong in the fall and don't play as well in the spring, and you see the opposite where some teams don't play well in the fall and come out with guns blazing in the spring.  I feel like we've had some good practices, we've been working hard and the guys seem to have good energy, I hope that translates to our performance this week and that our guys can keep building on how we ended the fall."

For the eighth consecutive year, the tournament will be contested at the par-72, 7,212-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course.  Action will get underway at 8 a.m. (CST) Monday with a shotgun start — with two rounds scheduled on the first day — and again on Tuesday at 8 a.m. for the final 18 holes; live scoring can be found throughout the event at www.golftstat.com.

This marks the 10th straight season that the Jags will play host to the tournament, but the first since 2008-09 that USA is presenting multiple events in the same campaign.

The Jaguars were sixth among the 15 teams in the field a year ago, led by Peter Staalbo's second-place finish as he carded a 7-under-par 209, and were second the previous spring.  South also came in second place at the 2009 edition of the tournament.

In addition to the Jags, the field this year includes Abilene Christian, Alcorn State, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Georgia State, Illinois State, Kansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Texas State, West Virginia and Western Kentucky.

USA's lineup in the opening event of the spring will feature Brooks Rabren, Sylas Elliott, Staalbo, Jason Mendel and Drew Cooke.  Cooke carded an even-par 216 total at last season's tournament to finish in a tie for 17th place in the individual standings while Rabren shot an even-par 72 in the second of three rounds.

Rabren made his season debut at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational the final weekend of October, and after rebounding from an opening round 78 with a career-low 6-under-par 66 the sophomore would pace the Jags with an even-par 216 total over three rounds while tying for 14th individually.

Staalbo leads South entering the spring with a 72.57 stroke average after posting four top-20 results in five events, with six scores of par or better in 14 rounds.  The sophomore began the year by tying for eighth in the individual standings at the Invitational at The Ocean Course after posting a 3-under-par 213 score over two days, and he had at least one round of par or better in three of the next four events.

Cooke and Elliott — both competing as individuals — had the Jags' low 54-hole scores last time out, tying for 10th place individually after carding totals of 1-under-par 215 with the latter firing a career-best 5-under-par 67 in the second round.  It was Elliott's second top-10 result of the fall, lowering his scoring average to 73.64, while Cooke begins the spring with a 74.91 figure after posting his second top-20 finish of the year.

Mendel also has a 74.91 scoring average coming into play after placing among the top 20 in each of USA's final two events of the fall.  He tied for 19th at the David Toms Intercollegiate hosted by Louisiana State and ended up in a tie for 17th at Steelwood with a season-low 217 total, shooting par three times during that stretch.

"It was a very good qualifying series that we had, the guys fought really hard and played with a lot of intensity," Hamilton said.  "Hopefully they can see that they are playing a little bit better than they did at some points in time in the fall, and we can continue that into a tournament setting.  It was very nice to see some of the scores we had — including back-to-back rounds in particular — so we're looking to build off of that and continue to play some decent golf."

Thirty-seven competitors from 13 schools are in the field of the USA Individual Tournament, which will be played at the par-71, 7,158-yard Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course at the same time and under the same format as the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate.  The Jaguars will have three members of the program in the field, with true freshmen Rasmus Karlsson and Yannick Schütz entering the event with 73.93 and 75.91 stroke averages, respectively, and redshirt freshman Stephen Wall recording a 78.00 average over six rounds that included earning medalist honors at the Badger Shootout.

While this may be Hamilton's first season guiding the program, it's fourth year in a row that South will start the second half of the campaign on its home course.

"This is unique for me, I've never done this before as far as opening at home," said Hamilton.  "I think I like it — we'll see if that changes based on how we play this week — but I'm looking forward to having us play on a course we have such familiarity with; that's a great thing, hopefully the comfort of being at home will help us get off to a quick start."

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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