OPELIKA, Ala. – Coming off its best finish of the season to date, the University of South Alabama men's golf team will continue the spring campaign on Sunday when the first of three rounds of Auburn's Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner gets underway.

The Jaguars placed fourth in a field of 15 teams at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate — the opening tournament of the spring campaign — with a 566 two-round total after the final day of the event was cancelled due to rain.  USA's lineup will feature the same five individuals who contributed to that effort with Yannick Schütz,  Kyle Robinson, Peter Staalbo, Rasmus Karlsson and Jordan Plunkett set to play while Dawson Atkinson competes on an individual basis.

The tournament includes three straight days with 18 holes scheduled at the Grand National Lake Course, with play each morning beginning at 7:50 a.m. (CST) from the first and 10th tees.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner (Auburn)
Dates: 2/24-26 (Sunday-Tuesday)
Format: 18 holes Sunday, 18 holes Monday, 18 holes Tuesday
Start times: 7:50 a.m. (CST) start from split tees all three days
Course: Grand National Lake Course (par 72, 7,149 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=15979

THE FIELD (16)
#21 Arkansas State, #10 Auburn, Auburn 'B', Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, ULM, Mercer, Missouri, UNC-Wilmington, South Alabama, #6 Southern Methodist, Western Kentucky

THE JAGUAR LINEUP
-Yannick Schütz (Jr., Friolzheim, Germany; 13 rds, 72.08 avg, 4 T20s, 69 low 18, 217 low 54, 7 rds =/- par)
-Kyle Robinson (So, Fayetteville, Ark; 13 rds, 75.00 avg, 1 T20, 66 low 18, 221 low 54, 3 rds =/- par)
-Peter Staalbo (Sr., Lejre, Denmark; 10 rds, 74.10 avg, 2 T20s, 69 low 18, 220 low 54, 5 rds =/- par)
-Rasmus Karlsson (Jr., Fiskars, Finland; 13 rds, 74.08 avg, 66 low 18, 216 low 54, 2 rds =/- par)
-Jordan Plunkett (Fr., Sterrett, Ala.; 13 rds, 73.54 avg, 69 low 18, 211 low 54, 6 rds =/- par)
-*Dawson Atkinson (Fr., Trussville, Ala.; 7 rds, 75.71 avg, 72 low 18, 225 low 54, 1 rd =/- par)
*denotes competing as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-This is the seventh consecutive season that the Jaguars are included in the tournament field.
-South's best finish at the event during that stretch has been a fourth-place result in 2015.
-The trio of Schütz, Staalbo and Karlsson all have a top-20 individual finish at the tournament in their careers.
-Schütz — who shot par or better in all three rounds of the event last spring to lead the Jags while tying for 17th in the individual standings — recorded his 10th career top-20 result in the first tournament of the semester after carding a team-best 5-under-par 139 total at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate on Feb. 11.
-Karlsson posted a 6-under-par 210 total at Auburn in 2017 to pace USA while coming in sixth place individually his freshman year, while Staalbo was the team's highest finisher after tying for 18th in the individual standings his first season at the collegiate level the previous spring.
-Staalbo and Robinson placed 13th and 17th, respectively, last time out to help South card a 10-under-par 566 score over 36 holes at its second home tournament of the year.
-Robinson fired a career-low 6-under-par 66 in the second round, leading four Jaguars who were below par as the team's 11-under-par 277 group score matched the lowest of the season.
-Plunkett contributed a 1-under-par 71 to that total, as he ranks second on the squad with six rounds at or below par entering play this week.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the Tiger Invitational: "It's an easy trip for us; it's three-and-a-half hours up the road, the hotel is on site, and it's a three-day event so the guys don't have to face a 36-hole grind on Monday.  The guys like the event, Auburn is a wonderful host with Jason Dufner involved, so it's a lot of fun for all the teams who get to participate."
On the challenges facing the Jaguars: "The field will be very competitive as it has been in years past — highlighted by the host, who is ranked in the top 10 in the country at the moment — so it's another good opportunity for us.  The golf course is a good layout and has hosted a PGA Tour event, so it rewards good shots but penalizes poor shots and bad choices.  It will be paramount to have a good game plan, and to be disciplined and patient enough to let that plan play out."
On previous success of the team's upperclassmen at the tournament: "The team and our upperclassmen have had success and played good rounds there.  They're looking forward to going back and I think that positive energy is good for the others as we all look forward to getting up there and competing."

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 Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.

—USA—