MOBILE, Ala. | Will Skipp and Jack Hearn each finished in the top 15 in the Hal Williams Intercollegiate presented by Hampton by Hilton - Providence Park helping South Alabama to a 12th place finish in the opening tournament of the spring at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Course on Tuesday.

Skipp finished as the top individual in the tournament after posting an opening round 64 to finish at 4-under 209 and in a tie for 12th place overall. He followed his opening round with a 1-under 70 to enter the final round in third place before posting a 4-over 75 in the final round to move just one shot outside of the top 10. Meanwhile, Hearn bounced back after an opening round 2-over 73 to finish tied for 15th overall at 3-under (210). He shot a second round 66 and a final round of 71 to finish off the tournament.

Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira of Arkansas pulled away from the field with a pair of 65s to finish at 15-under (198), five shots ahead of the nearest competitor.

Jordan Plunkett finished tied for 31st overall with a 1-over (214) highlighted by an opening round 69 and a second round 70.  Meanwhile Hugo Thyr and Jacob LeCroy used rounds of 70 to finish tied for 56th at 6-over (219).

The Jags finished 12th overall in the tournament at 9-over (861) following a final round of 194. They finished eight shots ahead of conference foe Louisiana. Meanwhile, No. 5 Illinois pulled away for the team win with a 36-under (816), finishing 13 shots ahead of No. 62 Arkansas.

Tournament Information
Event (host): Hal Williams Collegiate (South Alabama)
Dates: Feb. 13 – Feb. 14 (Monday-Tuesday)
Course: Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course

Team Scores
(1) Illinois 273-273-270-816 (-36), (2) Arkansas 271-280-278-829 (-23), (3) Kansas State 282-279-278-839 (-13), (4) Southern Miss 284-280-280-844 (-8), (5) Oral Roberts 280-277-290-847 (-5), (6) VCU 284-277-288-849 (-3), (7) Kent State 284-281-289-854 (+2), (8) Davidson 290-280-285-855 (+3), (9) Texas State 285-288-283-856 (+4), (10) Memphis 283-281-293-857 (+5), (11) Western Kentucky 288-286-284-858 (+6), (12) South Alabama 291-276-294-861 (+9), (13) Louisiana 287-290-292-869 (+17), (14) Toledo 287-300-283-870 (+18), (15) Seton Hall 296-287-288-871 (+19)

Individual Leaders
(1) Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira (Arkansas) 65-68-65-196 (-15), (t-2) Tommy Kuhl (Illinois) 68-70-65-203 (-10), (t-2) Kasper Nyland (Texas State) 66-66-71-203 (-10), (t-4) Jackson Buchanan (Illinois) 70-79-66-205 (-8), (t-4) Mattis Besard (Illinois) 68-68-69-205 (-8), (t-6) Will Hopkins (Kansas State) 70-68-68-206 (-7), (t-6) Julian Perico (Arkansas) 67-71-68-206 (-7), (t-6) Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois) 68-68-70-206 (-7), (t-9) Cade Breitenstine (Kent State) 69-68-71-208 (-5), (t-9) Cameron Clarke (Southern Miss) 72-68-68-208 (-5), (t-9) Brandon Hoff (Oral Roberts) 71-68-69-208 (-5)

South Alabama Scores
(t-12) Will Skipp* 64-70-75-209 (-4), (t-15) Jack Hearn 73-66-71-210 (-3), (t-31) Jordan Plunkett 69-70-75-214 (+1), (t-56) Hugo Thyr 77-70-72-219 (+6), (t-56) Jacob LeCroy 73-70-76-219 (-6), (t-63) Kevin Dahlberg* 74-74-72-220 (+7), (t-68) Eli Mitchell* 70-79-72-221 (+8), (t-79) James Skeet 76-75-76-227 (+14)

Up Next
South Alabama returns to action in state after a couple of weeks off, returning to play in Opelika at the Tiger Intercollegiate hosted by Auburn March 5 through March 7.

Notes

• The field consisted of 15 different teams including No. 5 (GolfStat) Illinois, No. 21 Kansas State, No. 49 Southern Miss, No. 62 Arkansas, No. 70. Kent State, No. 71 Memphis, No. 73 Toledo, and No. 78 VCU.
• The field also consisted of Sun Belt Conference foes Louisiana and Texas State.
• Skipp finished as the top individual in the tournament and challenged for the lead through the first two rounds, heading into the final round third.
• South Alabama recorded three rounds in the 60s including a tournament-low 64 by Skipp in the opening round.  

QUOTABLE – head coach Ben Hannan
Talk about the play overall with such a competitive field.
"When you have this type of field, you're excited about the opportunity to compete. Unfortunately, we didn't get off to a great start, but the guys bounced back having one of the best rounds to finish the 36 holes giving ourselves a chance moving into the final day to pick up some quality wins.  Today, we got off to an OK start, but made some mid round bogeys, and started to press which only compounds mistakes finishing with our worst round of the tournament."

Conditions were a little all over the place this week with wet conditions on Monday after all the rain (in the morning round) and then wind later on Tuesday, how did that affect play?
"I don't think the conditions had much of an effect, the golf course was in great shape, and the first day with the warm weather and minimal wind scoring was optimal. With the talent in college golf, it doesn't matter the conditions, players play well and you could see that by the scores."

WIll made a charge up the leaderboard early, and Jack came on late to both finish in the top 15. Talk about their play a little bit.
"Will opened with 64 to lead the event after the first round. To be honest, we weren't expecting much as Will has been fighting back issues and hasn't played competitively in several months. Obviously, very happy for him and hopefully he can build on this moving forward to help us.  Jack, had another solid tournament against a quality field.  Jack is a very good player and always consistent. You trust him to play well because he has proven himself many times. After opening with a 73, his 66 in the second round is a testament to his competitiveness." 

Moving forward, how does hosting and playing against a field like this prepare you for the rest of the season?
"There were several lessons to take from this week. When you play for three days next to the fifth ranked team in the country, you're able to get a good gauge of where you're at. Often times it's not as much physical as it is mental and maturity, which goes along way in this sport. The guys shooting what they did in the second round shows the talent level of this team, but we have to be more consistent from top to bottom. We have to get contributions from everyone and not just rely on a couple of players. It's early in the spring and we will learn from this and be better for it." 

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