CHOUDRANT, La. – The University of South Alabama men's golf team will make its season debut Sunday at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate hosted by Louisiana Tech.

The Jaguar lineup for the event features Yannick Schütz, Jordan Plunkett, Kyle Robinson, Eli Mitchell and Dawson Atkinson, with Anders Emil Ejlersen competing as an individual as well.

Play in each of the tournament's three rounds will get underway at 8 a.m. (CDT) at the Squire Creek Country Club.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Jim Rivers Intercollegiate (Louisiana Tech)
Dates: 9/13-15 (Sunday-Tuesday)
Format: 18 holes Sunday, 18 holes Monday, 18 holes Tuesday
Start times: 8 a.m. (CDT) tee times all three days
Course: Squire Creek Country Club (par 72, 7,070 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=20892

THE FIELD (12)
Abilene Christian, UAB, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Little Rock, Louisiana, ULM, Louisiana Tech, South Alabama, Texas State, Western Kentucky

THE JAGUAR LINEUP
-Yannick Schütz (R-Sr., Friolzheim, Germany; 20 rds, 73.35 avg, 4 T20s, 67 low 18, 215 low 54, 8 rds =/- par in 2019-20)
-Jordan Plunkett (Jr., Sterrett, Ala; 18 rds, 74.94 avg, 1 T20, 70 low 18, 215, low 54, 5 rds =/- par in 2019-20)
-Kyle Robinson (Sr., Fayetteville, Ark., 5 rds, 77.20 avg, 1 T20, low 18 73, low 54 227, 1 rd =/- par in 2019-20)
-Eli Mitchell (Fr., Meridian, Miss.; making collegiate debut)
-Dawson Atkinson (Jr., Trussville, Ala.; 17 rds, 74.06 avg, 3 T20s, 68 low 18, 210 low 54, 8 rds =/- par in 2019-20)
-*Anders Emil Ejlersen (Fr., Viborg, Denmark; 3 rds, 76.33 avg, 74 low 18, 229 low 54 in 2019-20)
*denotes competing as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-The Jags make their first appearance at Louisiana Tech's fall event since October 2009 when they tied for sixth in a field of 16 teams at the Squire Creek Invitational.
-South's most recent appearance at an event hosted by the school came in March 2011 at the Louisiana Tech Bulldog Classic.
-It's the first time South will compete in Louisiana since placing fourth at LSU's David Toms Intercollegiate in October 2016.
-The Jaguars, UAB and ULM were the three teams in the field this week to finish among the top 100 in the last Golfstat.com rankings released in the spring.
-Schütz enters the campaign ranked fifth on the school's all-time scoring average list with a 73.07 mark over 86 rounds.
-He paced the team in stroke average and top-20 finishes a year ago, also sharing the lead with Atkinson in rounds at or below par.
-Four of Plunkett's five scores at or under par came in USA's three spring events last season.
-Atkinson led the team at both home tournaments a year ago.
-Robinson competed in just two events during the fall a season ago before suffering an injury that ended his campaign.
-After joining the program in the spring, Ejlersen participated in one event; he also competed at the 120th U.S. Amateur Championship last month before the current semester started.
-Mitchell — the lone newcomer in the Jaguar lineup — was a second-team all-state selection at the Lamar School as a junior.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the first event of the season: "Originally our schedule was set up to start later in September, but with changes the timeline got moved up.  It has been a process getting going, because of health safety concerns we started a little later than normal but over the course of the last couple of weeks we've tried to log some rounds and get guys competing again.  We've certainly had some good play but also some rust has shown as some of the guys have not competed a ton over the last few months; we're trying to catch our stride and get some consistency back so we can be at the level of play we expect from our program.  We're looking forward to competing and starting to get back into the flow of the fall."
On the team's preparation for the tournament: "Squire Creek is a great facility.  The golf course is dictated by the green complexes, they are typically very firm and fast and have a lot of undulations.  It's a little different style of green complexes than we typically see around here — particularly the speed and the slope — so it will really come down to how we adapt.  At practice we've been creating scenarios where we try to have a lot of movement with the ball on the green to get the feeling of lines and setting the ball outside the hole.  We're trying to see a lot more shape with putting so we can work on touch and feel.  Due to safety protocols, when we arrive we won't be able to go in and practice for hours to help get acclimated.  We're going to have to make some adjustments on the fly, the practice round is going to be very important as we try to get as comfortable as quick as we can on the greens."

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.

—USA—