MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team begins its 2017 fall campaign as it tees off at the USA Intercollegiate, its home tournament scheduled to begin Saturday at Magnolia Grove Crossings.

The Jaguars will have two upperclassmen competing in the tournament – juniors MacKenzie Peyton and Lexi Worrell – and the Lady Jags will see three freshmen make their collegiate debuts – Julie Hovland, Caroline Berge and Siti Shaari.

Play will begin at 8 a.m. on the opening day of the tournament, with an 18-hole round scheduled to be completed each day of the three-day event.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): USA Intercollegiate (South Alabama)
Dates: 9/16-18 (Saturday-Monday)
Format: 18 holes Saturday, 18 holes Sunday, 18 holes Monday
Start times: 8 a.m. (CDT) start Saturday (#1 and #10), 8 a.m. Sunday (#1 and #10), 8 a.m. Monday (#1 and #10)
Course: (par 72, 6,002 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=13375

THE FIELD (13)
Alabama-Birmingham, Alabama State, Lamar, Lipscomb, McNeese State, Samford, South Alabama, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Arlington, Tulane, Troy, West Florida and Western Kentucky

THE JAGUAR LINEUP
- MacKenzie Peyton (Jr., New Castle, Ky.; 28 rds, 78.57 avg.; 4 T20s; 4 T10s; 72 low 18, 223 low 54 in 2016-17
- Siti Shaari (Fr., Selangor, Malaysia)
- Julie Hovland (Fr., Bergen, Norway)
- Caroline Berge (Fr., Hundvag, Stavanger, Norway)
- Lexi Worrell (Jr., Milton, Fla.; 28 rds, 80.71 avg.; 74 low 18, 232 low 54 in 2016-17)

TEE SHOTS
-Matt Luther returns for his third season at the helm of the women's golf team.
-This marks the second-straight season the Jags open the season at the USA Intercollegiate.
-South Alabama finished in seventh-place at last year's event.
-Peyton placed seventh at the conference tournament last season and tied her season-low round of 72 during the final two rounds of the conference event.
-Peyton also recorded a tournament-low 223 during the conference championship.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Matt Luther
On practice leading up to the start of the season: "It's been fantastic. Our freshmen are already getting better and we are on the right track as we head into our first event."
On his expectations for the opening event of the season: "My expectations are that there are none. We don't deal with expectations beyond get better every day, compete and grow. High intention, low expectation is how we do it."

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.