MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama women's golf head coach Matt Luther announced the Jaguars' 2018-19 schedule on Wednesday. The nine-tournament schedule features four events in the fall and five in the spring and will conclude with the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Jaguars open the fall season as host of the USA Intercollegiate at the Robert Trent Jones Magnolia Grove – Crossings course Sept. 15-17. After a one-month break, the team travels to Monroe, La., for the ULM Fred Marx Invitational Oct. 15-16. The 54-hole event will be held at the Bayou Desiard Country Club. USA finished in the top three in both tournaments last season.
The fourth-year head coach explained, "It's good to go back to some tournaments; it helps us gauge where we've improved and where we need to continue to improve. We played great at our home tournament in the fall, so we kick off the fall somewhere we expect to play well and have in the past. We should be able to be in contention at our home tournament this year, which is fantastic."
South Alabama will participate in the UT Arlington Invitational Oct. 22-23 held at the Walnut Creek Golf Course in Arlington, Texas. They will close out the fall season with the Little Rock Golf Classic Oct. 28-30 at the Diamante Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark.
Luther emphasized the advantages of having a fall schedule against familiar opponents. "We're playing all fall events hosted by conference teams, and that's on purpose. They're also all late, which gives us a lot of time on the front end to almost have an 'offseason' before the season starts. We get eight weeks and we only have to play at home; that's by design as well."
Spring competition begins Feb. 16-17 as the Jaguars travel to Lake Oconee, Ga., for the Reynolds Lake Oconee Collegiate Championship. This tournament, hosted by Mercer University, features 27 holes each day and will be held at the Lake Oconee National Golf Course.
The Jaguars are scheduled to participate in three tournaments in March. The month begins with a road trip to Jacksonville, Fla., as North Florida hosts the UNF Intercollegiate March 4-5 at the Jacksonville Golf Course. USA returns home March 22-24 to host the Bama Beach Bash at the Gulf Shores Golf Course in Gulf Shores, Ala. All five Jaguars had top-10 finishes and Siti Shaari earned her first individual career win in the 2018 tournament. "It's great to go back to a place where we've won, so we should feel pretty good going into that tournament," Luther commented.
South Alabama closes out the regular season March 29-31 with the LSU Tiger Golf Classic held at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La. "LSU is an opportunity to play against the SEC. We are still waiting for the field to be finalized, but it's an opportunity for us to go to a SEC venue that's hosted regionals and see where we're at."
The Sun Belt Conference Championship will be held April 14-16 at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Referencing the level of competition in the Sun Belt Conference this season, Luther said: "I think we should be near the top. Coastal Carolina was great last year and they're going to be good. We're obviously going to be better with four freshmen becoming sophomores and we've got two seniors that can play. I expect us to be top -one, -two, -three in the Sun Belt just like we were all year last year. We're only going to get better and we're in a good spot to win the Sun Belt. We're going to have to play really well to win. If we play the golf that we're capable of playing, we should not need any help."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Chip In Club, the women's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Chip In Club go directly to support the South Alabama women's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/chipinclub.
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