HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Both Sylas Elliott and Rasmus Karlsson broke par in the first of two rounds Monday to pace the University of South Alabama men's golf team on the opening day of Southern Mississippi's Sam Hall Intercollegiate.

The former is tied for third in the individual standings after 36 holes with a 1-under-par 141 total following a 5-under-par 66 in the morning, with the latter one stroke out of the top 10 as he carded a 68 in the opening round.  Their efforts helped the Jaguars record a group score of 2-over-par 286 the first time around the course.

South ended the day in a tie for seventh in the team standings with a 586 total to conclude the first of two days at the event.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Sam Hall Intercollegiate (Southern Mississippi)
Date: 9/11
Course: Hattiesburg Country Club (par 71, 6,902 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=13641

TEAM SCORES
1) Southern Mississippi 279-285—564 (-4); 2) Texas-San Antonio 282-286—868; 3) Sam Houston State 285-287—572; 4) Texas-Arlington 285-289—574; 5) Missouri State 290-289—579; 6) Samford 287-298—585; T7) South Alabama 286-300—586; T7) Rice 296-290—586; T9) Mercer 293-298—591; T9) Southeastern Louisiana 295-296—591; 11) Louisiana-Lafayette 297-299—596; 12) New Orleans 306-307—613.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Matt Codd, USM 72-67—139 (-3); 2) Derek Kelting, USM 68-72—140; T3) Sylas Elliott, USA 66-75—141; T3) Zander Lozano, UTSA 69-72—141; T3) Joris Eltin, SLU 68-73—141; T3) Walker Kesterson, USM 69-72—141; T3) Chad Sewell, UTSA 68-73—141; T3) Lino Galdin*, MU 71-70—141; T9) four individuals with 142.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T3) Sylas Elliott 66-75—141 (-1); T13) Rasmus Karlsson 68-75—143; T25) Jason Mendel 73-72—145; T66) Peter Staalbo 79-79—158; T66) Stephen Wall 80-78—158; 74) Spencer Arnold* 90-84—174.
*denotes competed as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-In the first round, Elliott posted a career-low 18-hole total while Karlsson matched the best round of his freshman season.
-Elliott recorded five birdies in the morning, and he is tied for the tournament lead with 26 pars after 36 holes.
-Karlsson was one of four players in the field to card an eagle on the opening day of the event with a 2 at the 419-yard 6th hole, his first of the day.
-Mendel had a team-leading three birdies in the second round — one fewer than the rest of his teammates combined — and is among the top 12 in scoring (E) on par-four holes after the opening day of play.
-Only eight of the 75 players in the competition broke par over two rounds.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the team's play the opening day of the tournament: "The conditions were tough today with gusting winds, but the golf course is really in great shape so you have to keep the ball in play or the rough is very penalizing.  We had some very good golf, we just had to count some big numbers which offset the good golf that we played."
On the performance of Elliott and Karlsson in the first round: "Sylas kept the ball in front of him the entire first 18, executed a lot of very good golf shots and made some putts.  He had two very good up-and-downs, otherwise the other two greens he missed one he chipped in and the other he chipped to a foot and tapped in; he was in complete control the first 18 and the score proved that.  Rasmus started with an eagle two on his opening hole and had it to 4 under at one point, but despite a bogey late in the round was in complete control hitting a lot of quality golf shots — particularly in the wind — and taking advantage of those shots."
On the game plan and expectations for Tuesday's final round: "This is an opportunity to do it all over again, and a chance to get a little better from today.  Hopefully we can go out and get everybody in the game and playing like they are capable, and if they do that this group is talented enough to put together a strong final round to close out a nice tournament."

Up next: Final-round play will begin from the first and 10th tees Tuesday at 8 a.m. (CDT)

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).

Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.

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