GULF SHORES, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team will pair with Alabama-Birmingham to co-host the Bama Beach Bash Friday through Sunday at the Gulf Shores Golf Club.
 
The 18/18/18 tournament will feature 13 teams and begin at 8:30 a.m. each day, with tee times Friday and Saturday and a shotgun start Sunday.
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (Host): 2019 Bama Beach Bash (Alabama-Birmingham and South Alabama)
Dates: March 22-24 (Friday-Sunday)
Format: 54 holes (18/18/18)
Start Time: 8:30 a.m. 
Course: Gulf Shores Golf Club (par 72, 6,002 yds)
Live Scoring
 
THE FIELD (13)
Alabama-Birmingham, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Cincinnati, Henderson State, McNeese State, North Alabama, North Carolina A&T, North Dakota, South Alabama, Spring Hill, Union (Tenn.), West Florida
 
THE JAGUAR LINEUP
-Caroline Berge (So., Hundvag, Stavanger, Norway; 17 rds, 76.06 avg.; 2 T10, 1 T20; 1 rd =/- par in 2018-19)
-Julie Hovland (So., Bergen, Norway; 17 rds, 74.59 avg.; 4 T10; 4 rds =/- par in 2018-19)
-Nele Mattner** (Fr., Braunschweig, Germany; 17 rds, 80.65 avg.; 1 rd =/- par in 2018-19)
-MacKenzie Peyton (Sr., New Castle, Ky.; 17 rds, 76.29 avg.; 2 T20; 1 rd =/- par in 2018-19)
-Siti Shaari (So., Subangjaya, Malaysia; 17 rds, 73.94 avg.; 3 T10, 1 T20; 4 rds =/- par in 2018-19)
-Lexi Worrell (Sr., Milton, Fla.; 17 rds, 77.82 avg.; 1 T10; 2 rds =/- par in 2018-19)
 
**Competing as an individual
 
TEE SHOTS
-The Jaguars hold a 299.94 scoring average and rank third in the Sun Belt. Siti Shaari (73.94 average) and Julie Hovland (74.59 average) rank fourth and seventh, respectively.
-Hovland and Shaari have each played four rounds at or below par this season and are the only two golfers to have all 17 rounds counted toward the team total.
-Shaari, Caroline Berge and Lexi Worrell had their best tournament totals of the season at the UNF Collegiate March 4-5. Shaari led the Jaguars with a 217 (+1) total and Berge earned a top-20 finish after shooting a 5-over-par 221, including the team's only hole in one of the year.
-USA recorded the lowest three-round total in program history, an 8-under-par 856, in the 2018 Bama Beach Bash to win the event by 35 strokes. Shaari picked up the first individual win of her career with a 54-hole total of 209 (-7). Every Jaguar currently on the roster finished in the top 25 in last year's event, with five of the six finishing 15th or better.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matt Luther
On co-hosting with Alabama-Birmingham: "It's a good deal. It makes life easier being sort of at home and sort of on the road. It's nice to have extra help in hosting."
 
On recent practices: "We're at the point in the year where we're getting super specific on simple things. All the big work is done, so it's fine-tuning. That's all we've really focused in on: a lot of planning shots and thinking through how to play golf versus how to swing a golf club."
 
On having experience from last year's tournament: "It's great to come back to a place you've had success. It's also difficult. You come with high expectations. It's in our ethos to have high intentions and low expectations, so it will be a good test this week to see if we can actually do that.  
 
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.
 
—USA—