GREENSBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama men's golf team faced a field that included a pair of top-five schools to open the spring campaign. It turns out that the program's annual home event might not offer its toughest challenge of the semester.
That's because when the Jaguars begin play Sunday at the Linger Longer Invitational, the field of 13 teams will include six among the top 40 — highlighted by four top-25 programs — in this week's Golfstat.com ratings. USA will be competing against No. 2 Georgia, 12th-ranked Alabama, No. 21 Virginia and Purdue, which stands 25th in the country, with Baylor (No. 26) and Augusta (No. 39) also in the field. In addition to co-hosts Kennesaw State and Mercer, Charlotte, Louisville, Missouri and UNC Greensboro will take part in the tournament as well.
"The field is loaded; I'm sure that you will have an NCAA Elite Eight team, if not two, out of this group," observed USA head coach Ben Hannan. "It's a great opportunity, a chance for these guys to see where they stand against the best teams in the game today."
In his first two tournaments as a Jaguar, Peter Staalbo has recorded a pair of top-20 results and a 71.50 stroke average over six rounds. Last time out at Auburn's Tiger Invitational, he tied for 18th in the individual standings after recording a 220 54-hole total.
Daniel Jansen has a 73.00 scoring average coming into the event, leading the Jags with two top-10 performances and 10 rounds of par or better. The senior began the Tiger Invitational with an even-par 72, the team's lowest round of the day.
Jason Mendel and Brooks Rabren have posted averages of 74.33 and 74.89, respectively, this season. Rabren had an even-par 72 in the second of three rounds at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate — USA's first tournament of the spring — one of six times this year that the freshman has carded a score of par or below. Mendel has accomplished the feat on four occasions during his sophomore campaign, and he had a season-best finish with a tie for eighth place at the USA Individual Tournament last month.
At his most recent event, the Badger Invitational on March 7-8 held at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, Matt Sheehan recorded a second-round 73 en route to a 233 total. The result was his first top-20 performance of the year — he was 19th out of 55 competitors — as he carries a 77.44 stroke average on the season.
"Following Auburn we had a large qualifier with almost all team members involved, so we have a change with Matt coming in at the No. 5 spot," said Hannan. "Matt earned his way in and is playing well. The others posted some good scores through qualifying as well. If we have learned from our experiences, then we are getting better and that's what our focus is on."
The Jaguars last participated in the Linger Longer Invitational in 2014, finishing seventh out of 15 teams overall; that's the best finish for USA in the four times it has competed at the event. Michael Garretson paced the squad that week with a 3-under-par 213 total, tying for seventh in the individual standings, with Blake Kelley and Tyler Klava also among the top 30.
"The biggest thing for us is getting adjusted to the greens, they are severely sloped and undulated and most likely a lot faster than we've been playing on," Hannan explained. "It's a second-shot golf course, you have to put the ball in the right spot or you can make bogeys fast. You have to be patient, and you have to pick and choose [approach shots] based on pin placements, which is something that has been a work in progress for us this year. Hopefully we learned a lot at Auburn, where we were impatient, and can take that experience and have a better performance this week.
"The field is strong, so it's about your ability to compete each day, stay in there and let the results take care of themselves."
Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. (CDT) on the first and 10th holes at the par-72, 7,073-yard Great Waters Golf Club at Reynolds Plantation, with one round scheduled for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Live scores will be available throughout the tournament at www.golfstat.com.
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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