AKRON, Ohio – The University of South Alabama men’s golf team had a trio of individuals fire 2-under-par 70s Tuesday in the final round of the Firestone Invitational, helping the Jaguars pass three schools to climb into the top 10 in the team standings.

Lane Hulse, Michael Garretson and Tyler Klava each posted the lowest score by a Jag in the tournament, with Blake Kelley supplying an even-par 72 and Parker Jones a 74 for a 6-under-par 282 team total, one off the round of the day.  The effort helped USA move into an eighth-place tie in the field of 17 with a three-day score of 872.

“I’m very, very proud of the guys and excited that this young group continued to compete even though they didn’t perform to their expectations the first couple of rounds,” Jaguar head coach Ben Hannan commented.  “When you tee it up with a young group like this, there are a lot of lessons to be learned; there is no question they picked up some momentum and got better as the tournament went on.”

Both Hulse and Klava carded five birdies on the day, while Garretson holed four.  Hulse would end up leading the squad with a season-best 1-under-par 215 to move into a tie for 16th place for his first top-20 finish of the year.  Starting on the 10th tee, he birdied two of the first three holes to make the turn at 1-under par, adding another birdie at No. 1.  Two bogeys moved Hulse back to even par, but he rebounded with birdies on the sixth and seventh to match his low 18-hole score of the season.

Garretson’s round, his third below par in the fall, was keyed by three birdies in a five-hole stretch to close out the first nine; after carding a three on the 441-yard 14th, he posted fours on the two par fives on the back side of the course.  The freshman shot even par after the turn, closing out the event with a birdie on the ninth as he tied for 27th place with 218 54-hole total.

Klava’s final round was a five-stroke improvement on his scores from the first day of the tournament, as he ended up with a 220 total to tie for 34th place.  He played each nine in 1-under par; after beginning with a three on the 364-yard 10th, Klava had birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 as well as on both par-five holes on the front side, the fifth and seventh.

It was Kelley, though, who led the team on the day after posting six birdies in the last round.  He birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th holes to card a 36 over his first nine, also recording fours on the fifth and seventh to go along with a birdie on No. 3 to end the tournament tied for 42nd place, one shot behind Klava.

It was the fourth round of par or better by both Kelley and Klava so far this season, as they share the team lead in the category.

Jones collected both of his final-round birdies on the par-five holes on the back nine, shooting 1-over par on each side of the course.  He recorded a 226 54-hole score in his collegiate debut, tying for 62nd place in the process.

St. Mary’s (Calif.) and Indiana, the 34th and 37th ranked teams in the country, respectively, in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, tied for the team championship with a 10-under-par 854 total — the Gaels’ 281 in the final round was the only score better than the Jags.  Iowa State came in third, Southern Methodist was fourth and Ball State rounded out the top five, as they were the only other schools to shoot par or better over 54 holes.

SMC’s Mac McClung held on to his first-day lead, earning medalist honors with an 11-under-par 205 score, finishing four strokes ahead of Chase Wright of Indiana.

The Jaguars will conclude the fall season at the David Toms Intercollegiate, which will begin Monday in Shreveport, La.

“Yesterday during the second round this group was 9-under par at one point, and from the first hole today they got below par and stayed there,” Hannan said.  “Obviously they are playing well, but we will continue to focus on the process of improving individually to benefit the team.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—

Firestone Invitational
Firestone Country Club North Course, Akron, Ohio
Par 72, 7,125 yards
Team Scores: T1) Indiana 289-283-282—854 (-10); T1) St. Mary’s (Calif.) 294-279-281—854; 3) Iowa State 284-292-283—859; 4) Southern Methodist 290-282-291—863; 5) Ball State 291-285-288—864; 6) Maryland 290-286-291—867; 7) Kansas State 292-292-284—868; T8) South Alabama 298-292-282—872; T8) Akron 291-285-296—872; 10) Eastern Michigan 292-297-284—873; 11) Toledo 297-292-288—887; 12) Nebraska 304-285-292—881; T13) Davidson 300-294-289—883; T13) Miami (Ohio) 308-286-289—883; 15) Illinois State 299-293-295—887; 16) USC-Aiken 302-294-294—890; 17) Wisconsin 295-303-296—894.

Individual Leaders: 1) Mac McClung, SMC 71-66-68—205 (-11); 2) Chase Wright, IU 72-68-69—209; 2) Max Buckley, SMU 69-69—138; T3) Charlie Bull, UA 71-70-69—210; T3) Ben Geyer, SMC 74-69-67—210; T3) David Mills, IU 71-72-67—210; T3) Jared Dalga, EMU 69-73-68—210; T7) Scott Fernandez, ISU 70-70-71—211; T7) Marc Sambol, SMU 71-69-71—211; T9) Harry Higgs, SMU 71-68-73—212; T9) Nate McCoy, ISU 72-71-69—212; T9) Chris Selfridge, UT 74-67-71—212.

South Alabama Scores: T16) Lane Hulse 73-72-70—215 (-1); T27) Michael Garretson 75-73-70—218; T34) Tyler Klava 75-75-70—220; T42) Blake Kelley 75-74-72—221; T62) Parker Jones 79-73-74—226.