MOBILE, Ala. – The second half of the University of South Alabama men's golf team's schedule is set to get underway, with the Jaguars on familiar ground — the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate will be held at the program's home course, and the field will once again include some of the top schools in the nation.
"It's another great field, this tournament has really blossomed into a national event — we pull in a lot of teams from multiple conferences throughout the country," explained Jag head coach Ben Hannan. "For us it's a great opportunity to compete against some of the elites in the nation and really get an idea of where we are in comparison to where we want to be. Events like this certainly help us prepare for postseason, and the fact that we get to do it at home is always a bonus."
Play will get underway at the par-72, 7,212-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course Monday at 8:30 a.m. (CST) with a shotgun start to the first two rounds. The final 18 holes will begin on the first and 10th holes Tuesday, with the opening shot slated for 8 a.m.
Live scoring on both days will be available at www.golfstat.com.
The highest ranked teams competing — according to the Golfstat ratings released Wednesday — are Wake Forest and Auburn, who stand second and fourth, respectively; the Jaguars will be paired with the two on the first day of play. The field will also include Chattanooga, Eastern Michigan, Georgia State, Illinois State, Kansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Mercer, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi and Texas State.
Auburn is the three-time defending tournament champion, having claimed last year's event with a team 3-under-par 861 total. The co-medalists from last spring — the Tigers' Matt Gilchrest and Tyler Saunders of Texas State both carded 5-under-par 211 scores — will also return this season. Middle Tennessee (2011-12), Ole Miss ('10) and Mississippi State ('09) have also won past editions of the tournament.
Last spring USA had an 869 team total to finish as runner-up, the Jags' fourth second-place result in the eight years the tournament has been contested. Daniel Jansen paced the program with a 4-under-par 212 total to end up third in the individual standings, while the duo of Michael Garretson and Tyler Klava — both seniors a year ago — finished in the top 10 as well.
Jansen will lead the Jaguars into this year's event, having paced the team with a 71.75 stroke average, seven rounds of par or better and a pair of top-10 performances at four fall tournaments. Brooks Rabren posted a scoring average of 73.58 in his first semester at the collegiate level, which included a top-20 result in his debut at Southern Mississippi's Sam Hall Intercollegiate as well as the team's top finish in the last event of the fall, the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate.
Drew Cooke and Ally Purdy will also be in the USA lineup after posting stroke averages of 74.67 and 76.22, respectively; the former was among the top 20 on two occasions in three tournaments last semester, while the latter had a 224 total that included a season-best 1-under-par 71 his last time out at the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic hosted by Georgia State. The fifth individual for the Jags will be sophomore Peter Staalbo, who enrolled in school in January. In 2015, the native of Lejre, Denmark placed in the top 20 in eight of 11 events he competed in.
"There is no question that the guys are ready to get going; it's always a long break from the beginning of the offseason in November to the start of the spring season now," Hannan observed. "We made some changes with the addition of Peter Staalbo, and some of the guys worked really hard and improved their games individually during the offseason. Based on our qualifying rounds in preparation for this week, there's no question we are a deeper team than last fall and there is more competition within the group. We hope that internal competition will benefit us moving forward."
The USA Individual Tournament will be conducted simultaneously at the par-71, 7,158-yard Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course. It's the fifth year in a row that the event will be contested, with the field this season including 35 players from 15 schools. Jason Mendel (73.42 stroke average in the fall), Ryan Pope (80.67 avg) and Matt Sheehan (76.00 avg) will represent the Jaguars in the tournament, which will feature an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on Monday and tee times at the first hole the following morning.
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).
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