MOBILE, Ala. – Lane Hulse equaled a season-low total with a 2-under-par 70 Tuesday to lead the University of South Alabama men’s golf team on final day of the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, ending the tournament tied for 10th place with an even-par 216 54-hole score.

It was a four-stroke improvement over his performance in last year’s event when he finished tied for 15th in his collegiate debut.

“Lane was solid all day.  He had good control of his golf ball and was mentally in the game from the first hole,” Jaguar head coach Ben Hannan observed.  “He got it to 1 under early, then just built on that momentum.  Lane really had some good looks coming in, his 70 could have been even better.”

Hulse fired four birdies on the front nine at the par-72, 7,160-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, twice accomplishing the feat on consecutive holes.  He moved to 2-under-par by birdying the third and fourth holes, and he made the turn at 3-under par after a two on the 192-yard eighth hole and a three at No. 9, which played at 406 yards.

With a 37 on the back side of the course — which included a birdie on No. 11 and six pars — Hulse his best finish in six events this year.  It was the third time this season that Hulse has carded a 70, and the first in three tournaments.

Michael Garretson had three birdies during a four-hole stretch midway through the front nine, with fours on Nos. 4 and 6 and a three at the 412-yard seventh.  The freshman would end the day with five birdies after collecting threes on the 11th and 12th holes as well, finishing with a 222 total to tie for 34th place.

It was the first time that the freshman has posted multiple rounds of par or better in the same tournament since his collegiate debut at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate Sept. 12-13.

Tyler Klava tied for 15th place with a three-round 1-over-par 217 total, Parker Jones posted a 220 score over 54 holes to tie for 25th and McLain Leberte tied for 54th place at 226.  With a 294 team score on the day, the Jags finished sixth out of the 15 teams in the field, recording a 5-over-par 869 total over two days.

“The lineup this week included three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior — the guys are still learning and gaining experience.  We played flawless as a group through 11 holes and were right there, but in the heat of it hit some loose shots that kind of spun on us,” explained Hannan.  “There is no question that these guys have a lot of talent and when we are on, we can play with anybody.

“The next step for this team is to follow up a good round with another good round and finish a tournament.”

Klava had two of his three birdies in the final round come on the first three holes.  He tacked on a four at the par-five, 559-yard 13th to end up with a 75 — Klava was among the tournament leaders in scoring on both par-three and par-five holes.

Jones was at even par after nine holes on the last day of the event, with a birdie on the par-five fourth, and he added a three at No. 10 en route to a 77.  Leberte used birdies on the fourth and sixth holes as well, and stood at 1-under par at the turn before recording a 79.

For the week, Hulse was among the leaders in par-three and par-four scoring, Garretson and Jones played the par-five holes below par, and the trio of Garretson, Jones and Leberte finished in top 20 among the 75 competitors in the field in birdies.

“I’m proud of them, they fought,” observed Hannan.  “I know we backed up coming in, but the guys fought; nobody hung their head, they battled.

“But we are doing the right things and will continue to work hard.  We will be better for this, just like we were better after the lessons learned in Florida.  We’ll take a day off and get back at it on Thursday to prepare for the tournament in Lafayette.”

The Jags will have next week off, and are scheduled to return to action when the Louisiana Classics begins on Monday, March 5, in Lafayette, La.

Middle Tennessee used an even-par 288 team total to hold off Memphis and win the tournament title by one stroke, defending its championship with a 6-under-par 858 54-hole score.  The Tigers’ final-round 282 was the lowest score of the day by three shots, making UM the only other school to finish below par.

Lee Bedford of Wake Forest and Mississippi State’s Alex Rowland tied with a 4-under-par 212 score to share medalist honors.  Just nine of the individuals in the field shot below par for the tournament.

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).

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Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, Mobile, Ala.
Par 72, 7,160 yards
Team Scores: 1) Middle Tennessee 288-282-288—558 (6); 2) Memphis 295-282-282—859; 3) Wake Forest 288-287-290—865; 4) Illinois 290-288-288—866; 5) Vanderbilt 290-290-287—867; 6) South Alabama 292-283-294—869; 7) Mississippi State 293-290-291—874; 8) Mercer 290-289-296—875; T9) Louisiana-Lafayette 295-293-291—879; T9) Kentucky 299-295-285—879; 11) Southern Mississippi 302-289-297—888; 12) Illinois State 303-297-299—899; 13) Akron 301-296-303—900; 14) Arkansas State 311-298-296—905; 15) Toledo 310-298-299—907.

Individual Leaders: T1) Lee Bedford, WF 71-70-71—212 (-4); T1) Alex Rowland, MSU 71-71-70—212; T3) Jonathan Fly, Memphis 75-65-73—213; T3) Jack Belote, Memphis 70-75-68—213; T5) Andrew Cho, MT 70-69-75—214; T5) Thomas Pieters, UI 70-74-70—214; T7) Charlie Ewing, VU 73-70-72—215; T7) Luke Guthrie, UI 72-71-72—215; T7) Brad Simons, MT 74-69-72—215; T10) five individuals with 216.

South Alabama Scores: T10) Lane Hulse 73-73-70—216 (E); T15) Tyler Klava 75-67-75—217; T25) Parker Jones 73-70-77—220; T34) Michael Garretson 72-78-72—222; T54) McLain Leberte 74-73-79—226.