HUMBLE, Texas – Coming off its best finish of the 2017-18 season, the University of South Alabama men's golf program will waste little time returning to action.  The Jaguars are one of 18 teams in the field this weekend at Houston's All-American Intercollegiate, which will be contested at the Golf Club of Houston beginning on Friday and include three rounds in three days.

Four of the five members of the Jag lineup — Peter Staalbo, Rasmus Karlsson, Brooks Rabren and Yannick Schütz — that placed second when South played host to the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate are set to compete.  The quartet will be joined by senior Sylas Elliott, who was fourth in a field of 40 at the USA Individual Tournament.

The Jags will be facing a field that includes three schools among the top 15 in the country in the final Golfstat.com ratings at the end of the fall: No. 5 Baylor, eighth-ranked Auburn and No. 13 Wake Forest.  Also participating this weekend will be the top-ranked schools from Conference USA (North Texas) and the Southland Conference (Sam Houston State) as well as Sun Belt Conference rival Georgia State.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): All-American Intercollegiate (Houston)
Dates: 2/16-18 (Friday-Sunday)
Format: 18 holes Friday, 18 holes Saturday, 18 holes Sunday
Start times: 8:30 a.m. (CST) start from split tees Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. start from split tees Sunday
Course: Golf Club of Houston (par 72, 7,096 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=13487

THE FIELD (18)
#8 Auburn, #5 Baylor, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Georgia State, Houston, Lamar, McNeese State, Mississippi, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston State, South Alabama, South Carolina, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern Methodist, Texas-San Antonio, #13 Wake Forest

THE JAGUAR LINEUP
-Peter Staalbo (Jr., Lejre, Denmark; 10 rds, 79.70 avg, 1 T20; 69 low 18, 216 low 54; 1 rd =/- par)
-Rasmus Karlsson (So., Fiskars, Finland; 15 rds, 73.53 avg, 1 T10; 66 low 18, 208 low 54; 5 rds =/- par)
-Brooks Rabren (Jr., Andalusia, Ala.; 12 rds, 73.17 avg, 1 T20, 68 low 18, 212 low 54; 5 rds =/- par)
-Yannick Schütz (So., Friolzheim, Germany; 9 rds, 72.00 avg, 2 T20, 67 low 2 18, 210 low 54; 2 rds =/- par)
-Sylas Elliott (Sr., Cullman, Ala.; 15 rds, 72.20 avg, 3 T20; 66 low 18, 213 low 54; 6 rds =/- par)

TEE SHOTS
-The Jags were second in a field of 16 teams at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate played at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course on Monday and Tuesday, concluding the event with a team round of 12-under-par 276 for a 14-under-par 850 total.
-South's second-place result in the opening tournament of the spring season was its best in 2017-18.
-Karlsson paced the team with an 8-under-par 208 two-day total, which was not just the best of his career but the low 54-hole score by a Jaguar this year.
-Both Karlsson and Schütz recorded their first top-10 performances of the season last time out after coming in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in a field of 80 competitors.
-Staalbo chipped in with his first top-20 result of the season, while Elliott had the highest finish of three Jags taking part in the USA Individual Tournament.
-All five members of the lineup this weekend carded at least one round under par at the first event of the spring campaign.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On what the team needs to do to play well on an unfamiliar course: "Our preparation in the practice round Thursday is going to be very important to our chances of success.  We have a later tee time so we will try to arrive early in order to get acclimated to the speed of the greens and the basic lay of the land.  During the practice round we'll look to get a general idea of lines off tees and areas on greens where the ball can and can't go, and then hopefully continue to execute at a high level."
On continuing to play well with limited practice between tournaments: "The process for us is about continuing to commit to our culture and core values, understanding the value of a shot, going through club selection and decision making — controlling what you can control, doing the same thing over and over.  It's about mapping out a game plan and being disciplined enough to commit to it, being patient when things aren't going well and reacting positively to adversity.  Getting a good result encompasses all of those things, the guys were obviously able to do that at the start of the week and hopefully it will continue in Houston."
On his hopes for the tournament: "This week we were paired with Florida State — a very good team that will likely be competing in the postseason — and in the third round we played with them.  There is enough talent in this group to play with anybody, the trick is to show up every day and do your job.  We're starting to see that more and more, so we hope to build on that and continue to play well into the spring season."

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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