PALM DESERT, Calif. – The University of South Alabama men's golf program is making its first trip to the West Coast in over 10 years this weekend to take part in the BIGHORN Invitational hosted by Kansas State.

Action will get underway Friday at The Canyons Course at Bighorn Golf Club at 10 a.m. (CDT), with 36 holes scheduled the opening day of the event.  The tournament wraps up with Saturday's final round, which will also begin at 10 a.m.

Four of the five members of the Jaguars' lineup — which is set to include Sylas Elliott, Rasmus Karlsson, Brooks Rabren, Yannick Schütz and Peter Staalbo — have season scoring averages below 74 coming into play.  The same quintet played together at Houston's All-American Intercollegiate Feb. 16-18, combining to post a 1-under-par 863 group total to tie for eighth in a field of 18 schools.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): BIGHORN Invitational (Kansas State)
Dates: 3/23-24 (Friday-Saturday)
Format: 36 holes Friday, 18 holes Saturday
Start times: 10 a.m. (CDT) shotgun start Friday, 10 a.m. start from split tees Saturday
Course: The Canyons Course at Bighorn Golf Club (par 72, 7,000 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=13920

THE FIELD (12)
Brigham Young, Colorado, #15 Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, San Diego State, South Alabama, Washington State

THE JAGUAR LINEUP
-Sylas Elliott (Sr., Cullman, Ala.; 18 rds, 72.50 avg, 3 T20, 66 low 18, 213 low 54; 7 rds =/- par)
-Rasmus Karlsson (So., Fiskars, Finland; 21 rds, 73.67 avg, 1 T10; 66 low 18, 208 low 54; 7 rds =/- par)
-Brooks Rabren (Jr., Andalusia, Ala.; 18 rds, 73.50 avg, 1 T10, 68 low 18, 212 low 54; 7 rds =/- par)
-Yannick Schütz (So., Friolzheim, Germany; 15 rds, 71.60 avg, 4 T20, 67 low 2 18, 210 low 54; 7 rds =/- par)
-Peter Staalbo (Jr., Lejre, Denmark; 16 rds, 77.31 avg, 1 T20; 69 low 18, 216 low 54; 2 rds =/- par)

TEE SHOTS
-This marks the first time the Jaguars will compete in a tournament outside of the Central and Eastern time zones since taking part in the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate, hosted by New Mexico State, on Oct. 28-30, 2007.
-South will be making its first appearance in California since earning a berth in the NCAA West Regional hosted by Stanford from May 19-21, 2005.
-Although Illinois is the lone top-25 team in the field this weekend, four other programs — BYU, Colorado, Kansas and San Diego State — are among the top 50 in the Golfstat.com ratings released on Wednesday.
-The opening day of the tournament will be the first time the Jags will play 36 holes in a day since making their spring debut at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate on Feb. 12.
-Four of five individuals in the USA lineup share the team lead with seven scores of par or better this season.
-Yannick Schütz has been the team's top finisher at each of the last two outings, and is coming off a performance that saw him post a 4-under-par 212 54-hole score to place 15th individually at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn March 4-6.
-Karlsson is the lone Jaguar to be in the lineup at every event thus far this year, although Elliott, Rabren and Schütz have all been among the team's five competitors on at least five occasions.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On Kansas State's tournament: "We have had an extended amount of time between Auburn and the K-State event, and because we are flying we had to finish our qualifying earlier in the week.  For the team that is travelling, the guys have had five to six days after qualifying to continue to prepare for the golf course that they are about to see."
On the team's preparations for an unfamiliar venue: "The conditions of the golf course are obviously going to be different than we are accustomed to, you can't really emulate greens and complexes you just don't have access to around here.  We've tried to study the golf course to the best of our ability and work on both distances that are represented out there and hitting to specific areas and lines so we get comfortable hitting away from the pin in some instances.  The golf course appears to have some very gettable holes, but also some holes where risk/reward and decision making are going to play a key role."

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.

—USA—