STATESBORO, Ga. – A trio of University of South Alabama men's golfers shot par or better in the final round of the Schenkel Invitational Saturday, helping the Jaguars close out the tournament with an even-par 288 total over the final 18 holes.

Michael Garretson fired a 3-under-par 69 to lead the Jags — the senior had the team's low score in each round of the event — with Daniel Jansen recording a 71 and Tyler Klava supplying a 72.  It was Garretson's ninth round of par or better on the year, a total that paces the squad, while Jansen and Klava each accomplished the feat for the eighth time on the season.

All three were below par on the front side of the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club in the final round.

After opening with four straight pars, Garretson moved to 1 under with a three at the 443-yard 17th hole.  He was still at even par after No. 3, but posted back-to-back birdies with threes on Nos. 4 and 5, then added fours at the seventh and ninth — playing at 511 and 528 yards, respectively — to finish 3 under on the course's front nine.  He had a 74 in the second round in the morning, tying for 45th out of the 90 individuals in the field with a 1-over-par 217 54-hole total.

Jansen had a second-round score of 76, then was 2-over par after nine holes in the afternoon.  But starting at the 363-yard fifth, the junior posted three birdies in a row before a four at No. 12 — his next-to-last hole, playing at 547 yards — allowed him to finish with a five-stroke improvement over the final 18 holes.

Klava collected six birdies in a nine-hole stretch in the final round, starting with a four at the 18th.  He followed with a three at No. 1 and a two two holes later, then birdied the sixth, seventh and eighth as well to go 3 under on the front side of the course; the senior's score over the final 18 holes was four shots better than his total in each of the first two rounds.

Both ended the tournament with a 54-hole 224 total.

Jason Mendel — who had birdies on the sixth and 15th — had a 76 over the last 18 holes to finish with a three-round score of 235, while Matt Sheehan was a shot behind him after posting scores of 77 in both rounds on the final day of the event.

Auburn's Daniel Stringfellow was the medalist with a 12-under-par 204 total after carding scores of 65 and 69 on the last day of the tournament, with teammates Will Long and Ben Schlottman two of four individuals tied a stroke behind him to help the Tigers earn the team title with a 41-under-par 823 score that included a 269 group total in the morning.  Vanderbilt was the runner-up one shot in back of AU, while host Georgia Southern finished third with an 844 team score.

The Jaguars had a 303 group score in the second round and finished 15th in the team standings with an 897 two-day total.

"It's always nice to close with a decent round," USA head coach Ben Hannan said.  "The guys struggled throughout the majority of the week, we got behind early and really could never build any momentum.  If we did get something going, we would have a self-inflicted error and have to start all over again.  It was a disappointing week as we expected to come in and compete, we were excited to play against this competition.

"But, we'll learn from it and get better as we get ready for Mississippi State's tournament."

The Jags will conclude the regular season at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship, hosted by Mississippi State, April 6-7.

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).

—USA—

Schenkel Invitational
Forest Heights Country Club, Statesboro, Ga.
Par 72, 6,962 yards
Team Scores: 1) Auburn 274-269-280—823; 2) Vanderbilt 273-282-269—824; 3) Georgia Southern 282-278-284—844; 4) Kentucky 285-283-278—846; T5) Wake Forest 279-289-279—847; T5) North Carolina State 281-290-276—847; 7) Alabama-Birmingham 290-274-284—848; 8) North Florida 286-282-286—854; 9) Iowa 285-283-291—859; T10) Central Florida 291-286-283—860; T10) Charleston 297-283-280—860; 12) Florida 283-291-287—861; 13) Louisville 286-289-295—870; 14) Mississippi 292-295-284—871; 15) South Alabama 306-303-288—897.

Individual Leaders: 1) Daniel Stringfellow, Aub 70-76-69—204 (-12); T2) Will Long, Aub 68-68-69—205; T2) Matthias Schwab, VU 67-70-68—205; T2) Theo Humphrey, VU 68-71-66—205; T2) Ben Schlottman, Aub 66-68-71—205; T6) Zach Munroe, CofC 72-67-68—207; T6) Hunter Stewart, VU 70-71-66—207; T6) Carson Jacobs, VU 68-70-69—207; T9) three tied with 208.

South Alabama Scores: T45) Michael Garretson 74-74-69—217 (+1); T75) Tyler Klava 76-76-72—224; T75) Daniel Jansen 77-76-71—224; 88) Jason Mendel 79-80-76—235; 89) Matt Sheehan 82-77-77—236.