MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's golf team had four individuals place in the top 20 of the final individual standings following the final round of the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate Tuesday, leading the Jaguars to their best finish of the 2016-17 season.

Brooks Rabren led the quartet with his highest career finish, tying for third among the 75 competitors in the field with a career-low 3-under-par 213 total after shooting a 73 over the last 18 holes.  Sylas Elliott and Jason Mendel carded a 73 and 74, respectively, to tie for 11th place one stroke behind Rabren — the best three-round scores for both in their USA careers — while Drew Cooke had a 74 on the last day of play in tying for 19th place one shot in back of the duo.

Peter Staalbo recorded a 77 in the final round and a two-day 222 total as well for the Jags, who placed second among the 15 teams in the competition with a 5-under-par 859 three-round total.  Louisville won the event with a score of 856 after posting a 289 over the final 18 holes, one shy of equaling the low round of the day, with Chattanooga and Mississippi State tying for third three shots behind South and fellow Sun Belt Conference member Georgia State rounding out the top five with an 864 group score.

It was USA's third straight top-five result as a team, and its highest finish in six events this year.

"I think it was a great opportunity for our guys," said Jaguar head coach Alex Hamilton.  "We came out, competed and had an opportunity to win a golf tournament, which is never an easy thing to do.  We did struggle with it a little bit coming down the stretch when we didn't play our best golf, but overall I was very proud of the way we fought and the way we competed this week."

Nine of the Jags' 12 birdies in the final round came on the front nine of the par-72, 7,212-yard Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course.  Elliott, Mendel and Staalbo had fours on both the fourth and sixth holes, with Rabren adding one as well on No. 4 as four of South's five individuals birdied the first par five on the course playing at 540 yards.  Mendel added a three on the opening hole, a 422-yard par four — all three of his birdies in the final round came on the front side of the venue — and Rabren carded a three on No. 3, playing at 385 yards, as well.

After making the turn, Rabren and Elliott posted threes on Nos. 10 and 12, respectively, with Cooke recording the team's final birdie on the 559-yard 13th hole.

Elliott paced the squad with 10 birdies over 54 holes to rank among the top 15 in the field in the category, with Mendel and Rabren also birdying nine holes each.  Rabren (-2), Cooke (-1), Elliott and Mendel all played the course's par-four holes at or better than even par, and Mendel was among the tournament leaders with a 3-under-par total on par fives as well.

"We made a lot of birdies this week," Hamilton observed.  "I haven't had a chance to look at the numbers, but we had several opportunities to run away from this field and that's because of the amount of firepower this team has."

In the USA Individual Tournament — which included a field of 37 at the par-71, 7,158-yard Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course — the Jaguars' Rasmus Karlsson finished in a tie for third place with a 4-over-par 217 total following a 75 in the final round of the event.  Stephen Wall posted a 227 54-hole score after shooting a 78 on the last day to tie for 16th while Yannick Schütz was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard on Monday.

Karlsson's final round included three birdies, with two of those coming on the ninth and 10th holes as he made the turn.  The freshman later added a two at the 169-yard 14th.  Wall had his only birdie of the day at No. 12, a par four playing at 423 yards.

Brooks Thomas of Chattanooga and Mississippi State's Taylor Bibbs shared medalist honors with three-round scores of 216.

USA will return to action on Sunday, March 5, with the first of three rounds at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn.

"I think you can look at how we finished in the field, beating some quality teams and competing against another that was in the top 15 at the national championship last year," Hamilton said.  "Louisville is a great club, I knew they weren't going to give it to us, but we stood there and fought with them toe-to-toe.  Unfortunately it didn't go our way this time, but we're looking forward to the challenges that the Auburn tournament will present and hopefully we can win one there."

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—

Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate
Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course, Mobile, Ala.
Par 72, 7,212 yards
Team Scores: 1) Louisville 284-283-289—856 (-8); 2) South Alabama 278-287-294—859; T3) Mississippi State 281-290-291—862; T3) Chattanooga 286-288-288—862; 5) Georgia State 289-283-292—864; 6) Cincinnati 290-287-288—865; 7) Kansas State 287-290-293—870; T8) Southern Mississippi 296-286-298—880; T8) Texas State 294-289-297—880; 10) Western Kentucky 287-298-301—886; 11) Louisiana-Lafayette 294-296-297—887; 12) Illinois State 297-302-291—890; 13) West Virginia 292-295-310—897; 14) Alcorn State 305-304-306—915; 15) Abilene Christian 303-298-320—921.

Individual Leaders: T1) Alexander Herrmann, GSU 71-67-72—210 (-6); T1) Wes Gosselin, UTC 66-75-69—210; T3) Brooks Rabren, USA 69-71-73—213; T3) Fernando Cruz Valle, ULL 66-74-73—213; T3) Tanapat Pichaikool, MSU 68-72-73—213; T3) Keegan de Lange, UofL 73-68-72—213; T3) Austin Squires, UC 71-71-71—213; T3) Trevor Johnson, UofL 69-73-71—213; T9) Phillip Hickam, UTC 73-68-73—214; T9) Trent Wallace, ISU 72-71-71—214.

South Alabama Scores: T3) Brooks Rabren 69-71-73—213 (-3); T1) Jason Mendel 70-71-74—215; T11) Sylas Elliott 69-73-73—215; T19) Drew Cooke 70-72-74—216; T39) Peter Staalbo 71-74-77—222.