LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Jordan Plunkett paced the University of South Alabama men's golf team as it concluded play this fall at the Little Rock Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Chenal Country Club Founder's Course.

The junior fired a 4-under-par 68 in the second of three rounds at the event, posting a 217 54-hole score to tie for 28th place in the individual standings.  Eli Mitchell, Kyle Robinson and Yannick Schütz each added a round at or below par at the tournament as the Jaguars placed 11th as a team with an 877 total over the two days.

Little Rock — the tournament host — recorded a 35-under-par 829 group score to win the event by a 17-stroke margin over runner-up Arkansas State.  ULM's Guillaume Fanonnel was the medalist after carding a two-day 10-under-par 206 total.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Little Rock Invitational (Little Rock)
Dates: 10/19-20 (Monday-Tuesday)
Course: Chenal Country Club (par 72, 7,115 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=21058
Final results

TEAM SCORES
1) Little Rock 285-274-270—829 (-35); 2) Arkansas State 272-281-293—846; 3) UTA 279-282-287—848; 4) ULM 286-285-278—849; 5) Louisiana 284-283-285—852; 6) Abilene Christian 276-288-289—853; 7) Southern Mississippi 286-291-284—861; T8) Texas State 293-282-288—863; T8) Lamar 288-282-293—863; 10) Louisiana Tech 296-277-293—866; 11) South Alabama 289-291-297—877; 12) Central Arkansas 296-296-294—886; 13) Southern Illinois 294-299-300—893; 14) Missouri State 307-297-299—903.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Guillaume Fanonnel, ULM 69-67-70—206 (-10); T2) Caleb Hicks, UTA 70-70-69—209; T2) Alex Clouse, ACU 67-71-71—209; T4) Magnus Lomholt, LR 71-70-69—210; T4) Hunter Hammett, ULL 70-71-69—210; 6) Melan Dhaubhadel, ULM 72-73-66—211; T7) Marcel Rauch, LR 67-70-75—212; T7) Zan Luka Stirn, A-State 68-75-69—212; T7) Jack Madden, A-State 71-68-73—212; T10) three individuals with 213.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T28) Jordan Plunkett 74-68-75—217 (+1); 38) Yannick Schütz 74-72-73—219; T42) Eli Mitchell 70-75-76—221; T52) Dawson Atkinson 74-77-73—224; T56) Kyle Robinson 71-78-76—225; T72) Will Skipp 76-76-78—230.

TEE SHOTS
-The event field featured 86 individuals from 14 teams.
-South was one of seven Sun Belt Conference schools at the competition.
-It was the first time the Jags participated in the tournament since March 2003.
-Plunkett ranked second in the field this week in birdies (16) and par-three scoring (2.83), and he was also tied for third in scoring on the course's par fives (4.33).
-Nine of those birdies came in the second round when he tied the lowest 18-hole score of his Jaguar career, which he had last recorded at the Sun Belt Conference Championship on April 23, 2019.
-It was the first time he led South since April 2019, when he shared low honors on the squad at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship with Schütz.
-Schütz posted his team-best fifth score at or below par in the second round, concluding play among the top five in the field with 36 pars.
-Mitchell's opening-round total matched the lowest score he has recorded his first semester with the program; he also had a 70 on the second day at the season-opening Jim Rivers Intercollegiate.
-It was the third time in as many outings this fall that Atkinson — who tied for sixth on the week with 14 birdies — has carded his lowest score at an event in the final round.
-Robinson equaled his season-low round after posting three birdies over the opening 18 holes.
-Skipp recorded five birdies in his first two rounds at the collegiate level on the opening day of play at the event.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the Jaguars' play this week: "As I said before we left, in this format momentum is huge and if you can get going the right way you just feed off each other and birdies come in bunches.  This week, we couldn't get the guys on the same page to sustain momentum; the under-par rounds that we did have weren't supported so it was difficult to keep up.  The par fives were key and we didn't consistently drive it well enough on those holes to take advantage of them."
On the team's approach to the offseason: "There were some good signs throughout the fall and we need to build on that.  We have a talented team with depth, but we need to start having all nine guys play to their ability consistently — that starts at home — where we need to play to a level that pushes everybody.  Because of COVID-19 and the shortened fall season, we'll get to work right away looking to improve individual things with each guy as we prepare for the start of the spring in February."

Up next: The Jaguars will play host to the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate Feb. 15-16 at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course.

Photo provided by bradpuckettphotography.com

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.

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