MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team will host the USA Intercollegiate Sept. 5-7 at Robert Trent Jones' Magnolia Grove Crossings Course to open its fall season.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (Host): USA Intercollegiate (Hosted by South Alabama) 
Dates: Sept. 5-7 (Saturday – Monday)
Format: 54 holes (18/18/18)
Course: Robert Trent Jones Magnolia Grove – Crossings Course
Yardage:  6,002 yards
Par:  72
Live Scoring:  GolfStat.com
 
THE FIELD (7)
Arkansas State, Lamar, Little Rock, South Alabama, UAB, ULM and Western Kentucky 

JAGUAR LINEUP
1. Julie Hovland (74.83 stroke average in 2019-20)
2. Siti Shaari (71.61 stroke average in 2019-20) 
3. Belinda May (76.94 stroke average in 2019-20)
4. Carlota Garcia (80.78 stroke average in 2019-20)
5. Nele Mattner (78.20 stroke average in 2019-20)
Ind. – Caroline Berge (78.67 stroke average in 2019-20)
 
TEE SHOTS 
- Mattner will be first off the tee for the Jaguars at 8 a.m., followed by Garcia (8:12 a.m.), May (8:24 a.m.), Shaari (8:36 a.m.) and Hovland (8:48 a.m.). 
- Shaari led the Sun Belt Conference with a 71.61 stroke average last season. She earned five top-10 finishes out of six tournaments in 2019-20.
- Hovland recorded one top-10 and two top-20 finishes last year.
- The tournament marks Garcia's second time in the lineup, and the first since she competed in the Golfweek Conference Challenge last fall in Wolcott, Colo.
- In last year's final tournament of the season, the UNF Collegiate in Jacksonville, Fla., March 9-10, Mattner tied her season-low with 3-over par 75 in the first and final rounds of the event. It also marked her lowest three-round total with a 229.
- South Alabama finished 13th out of 16 teams in last year's USA Intercollegiate with a three-round total of 898.
- UAB won the 2019 USA Intercollegiate with a three-round total of 868, while the Blazers' Tia Teiniketo earned medalist honors with a three-round score of 204.

Head Coach Matt Luther
- On opening the fall season:
"We're looking forward to just knocking off the rust and remembering how to do the simple stuff that we do, and getting back into team and competitive golf. In hosting this week, we're the only tournament in the country. I'm as concerned with making sure the tournament goes well as sort of a blueprint of here's how you can do it. I definitely feel a lot more pressure there than scores."

- On the challenges of hosting a tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic:
"We're having to deal with social distancing, and there is no blueprint for this. Fortunately, golf has been going on at a lot of levels – junior and amateur levels. We as a University and conference didn't have to write the rules from scratch, but we had to put them in a team-golf framework that was a little challenging. I think we have a good plan. Our administration has been super supportive and helpful, so just managing that aspect of things is going to be a big deal for us this weekend."

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.