March 21, 2009

The University of Memphis men's golf team is set to compete in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate this week, March 22-24. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be held at the par-72, 7,239-yard Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course, with South Alabama serving as the host school.

Action will begin at 7:30 a.m. on both Sunday and Monday, with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start scheduled for the final round Tuesday.

Jordan Payne, Brad Benjamin, Jack Belote, Brandon Bunn, and Stefan Erdidi will compete for the Tigers this week. Both Payne and Benjamin narrowly missed earning top-20 finishes in the Tigers last tournament, the Louisiana Classics. The two finished in a tie for 21st, just one shot out of 20th.

Louisville won last year's event with a team total of 873, and the Cardinals' Adam Rainaud was the medalist after carding a 215 score over the 54 holes.

The teams that finished third through sixth last season -- Memphis, Mississippi State, USA and Southern Mississippi -- are all in this year's field, with South Florida (eighth), Xavier (ninth) and Hartford (10th) also returning to compete again. Akron, Arkansas State, Illinois State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Richmond, Texas-Arlington, Toledo and Troy round out the competition.

UTA is the highest-ranked school in the tournament, standing 47th in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Mississippi State is 61st, NMSU is 80th and Memphis is 88th in the latest ratings.

Keep up with the action all week long at www.gotigersgo.com.