MOBILE, Ala. – Led by the duo of Tyler Klava and Parker Jones — a redshirt and true freshman, respectively — the University of South Alabama men’s golf team finished the opening day of the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate as one of three teams below par and in a tie for second place.

Klava turned in a 5-under-par 67 and Jones carded a career-low 2-under-par 70 in the second of two rounds Monday, helping the Jaguars post a 5-under-par 283.  With a 36-hole team score of 575, USA is tied with No. 42 Wake Forest for second place, five strokes behind defending tournament champion Middle Tennessee.

The final round at the par-72, 7,160-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course will tee off on holes No. 1 and 10 at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“They played great,” USA head coach Ben Hannan stated.  “Coming off a poor performance at Florida, we had a great week of preparation and practice.  The guys manned up and played great today.

“I can’t say enough about freshmen Tyler Klava and Parker Jones, they carried us in the afternoon round.  They played like seniors today, it was great stuff.”

Klava equaled his career-low total in the afternoon, highlighted by an eagle and birdie on the fourth and fifth holes for a front-nine 33.  He added another birdie on No. 11 and recorded a two on the 201-yard 17th for his team-leading sixth round of par or better in 2011-12.

Only a double bogey on his second hole of the morning — the 385-yard par-four third — prevented Klava from making the turn at even par.  He birdied No. 14 with a two en route to a first-round 75, ending the day tied for fourth with a 2-under-par 142 total.

Jones’s 73 over the opening 18 holes matched his previous career low first recorded at the Firestone Invitational in October.  His initial birdie of the day came at No. 6 — a 528-yard par-five hole — while he had a pair on the back nine of the course to play the side at even par.  In fact, Jones was 2-under through 14 after he birdied the 14th and 16th holes.

He would turn in a round three shots better over the second 18 holes with four birdies including back-to-back on Nos. 8 and 9.  With a 1-under-par 143 total, Jones is tied for sixth out of 75 players in the individual standings.

Lane Hulse and McLain Leberte are also in the top 25 respectively with two-round scores of 146 and 147.

Hulse recorded a 1-over-par 73 in both rounds on the day.  He birdied one par-four hole on each side of the course in the morning; he stood at 1-under-par after accomplishing the feat on No. 7, while he answered a bogey on his first hole after the turn with a three at the 421-yard 12th hole.  Hulse also had a birdie on No. 10, which played at 417 yards, to enter the final round tied for 19th.

Leberte started the day on No. 3, and birdied three of his first four holes to move to 3-under par; that included fours on both par-five holes on the front nine.  After ending the first round with a 74, Leberte improved by a shot in the afternoon and is in a tie for 24th place.  The only upperclassman in the lineup, the junior birdied the first, third and fifth holes in the afternoon while playing the course’s back nine at even par.

Michael Garretson had four birdies in the morning, with three of them coming on the front nine as he made the turn at 2-under-par.  The true freshman opened the tournament with three on the 422-yard first hole, collecting another birdie on No. 7 — another par-four — around a four at the fifth, which was playing at 540 yards.  With another birdie three on No. 10, Garretson turned in his fifth score of par or better this season.

He ended up with a 150 over 36 holes and is tied for 47th place.

Andrew Cho of Middle Tennessee fired scores of 70 and 69, taking a one-stroke lead with a 5-under-par 139 total.  Memphis’s Jonathan Fly had a 7-under-par 65 in the second round, and is sitting in second place one shot behind.  Just 10 of the 75 players ended the day below par.

“It seems like we have gone head-to-head with Middle Tennessee a lot.  They have a great team, and Whit [Turnbow] is a great coach,” said Hannan.  “The guys have to show up tomorrow.  The thing we have tried to stress is that it feels good to be in the hunt, especially after last week.  But we’re still tied for second five back, so we’re still chasing.

“The guys have to go out tomorrow and continue their strong play if they want to have an opportunity, because Middle Tennessee will not back up,” he continued.  “Wake Forest, another great team, is tied with us and Illinois — who is top 20 in the country — is four shots behind us.

“If these guys think for a second that they’ve got it, it’s going to be a long day. They have got to bring it from the first tee.”

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—

Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, Mobile, Ala.
Par 72, 7,160 yards
Team Scores: 1) Middle Tennessee 288-282—570 (6); T2) South Alabama 292-283—575; T2) Wake Forest 288-287—575; 4) Memphis 295-282—577; 5) Illinois 290-288—578; 6) Mercer 290-289—579; 7) Vanderbilt 290-290—580; 8) Mississippi State 293-290—583; 9) Louisiana-Lafayette 295-293—588; 10) Southern Mississippi 302-289—591; 11) Kentucky 299-295—594; 12) Akron 301-296—597; 13) Illinois State 303-297—600; 14) Toledo 310-298—608; 15) Arkansas State 311-298—609.

Individual Leaders: 1) Andrew Cho, MT 70-69—139 (-5); 2) Jonathan Fly, Memphis 75-65—140; 3) Lee Bedford, WF 71-70—141; T4) Tyler Klava, USA 75-67—142; T4) Alex Rowland, MSU 71-71—142 T6) Parker Jones, USA 73-70—143; T6) Charlie Ewing, VU 73-70—143; T6) Brett Patterson, MT 71-72—143; T6) Brad Simons, MT 74-69—143; T6) Luke Guthrie, UI 72-71—143.

South Alabama Scores: T4) Tyler Klava 75-67—142 (-2) ; T6) Parker Jones 73-70—143; T19) Lane Hulse 73-73—146; T24) McLain Leberte 74-73—147; T47) Michael Garretson 72-78—150.