Sept. 13, 2009

After finishing 15th at the Golfweek Conference Challenge to open the season, the University of Memphis golf team looks to rebound this week when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss. to compete in the Sam Hall Intercollegiate. The event is hosted by Southern Miss and is held at the par 72, 6,902 yard Hattiesburg Country Club.

15 teams will be competing this week: Southern Miss, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, Austin Peay State, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis, Mississippi State, Murray State, New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana, Troy and Winthrop.

The tournament is named after former Southern Miss golfer and coach, Sam Hall, who competed for the school from 1955-58 and then later returned to coach the program on two different occasions. Hall retired from coaching permanently in 2000, after his second stint coaching the Eagles from 1990-2000.

The Tigers open play at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate Monday, September 4th. They will play 36 holes Monday and 18 on Tuesday. Follow the action lie via www.golfstat.com.

-www.gotigersgo.com-

The Squad

The five golfers competing for the Tigers this week are: Carlson Cox, Steve Lee, Brandon Bunn, Jack Belote, and Jonathan Fly.

1.Sophomore Carslon Cox makes his first appearance in a tournament for the Tigers. After sitting out last season, Cox looks to make an impact this season. Coming out of high school in 2008, Cox was rated as the sixth best golfer in the state of Tennessee. He also finished in the top-10 at the 2008 Tennessee AAA State Championship.

2.Freshman Steve Lee is also making his Tiger debut. A prized recruit out of Hendersonville High School , Lee had quite an impressive prep resume. The 139th ranked golfer in the country in the class of 2008 finished in the top-10 at the 2008 Tennessee AAA State Championship. Lee also won this year's prestigious Bubba Conlee National Junior Golf Tournament, an event which has been won by famous Memphis golfers Doug Barron and Shaun Micheel.

3.Brandon Bunn returns this week after leading the Tigers in the Golfweek Conference Challenge. Bunn is the lone senior competing this week, as he hopes to build off his rounds of 75-74-74 in the season opening event.

4.Jack Belote returns this week after struggling to a T68th place finish at the Golfweek Conference Challenge. Belote looks to return to his form at the end of the 08-09 campaign, when he finished 17th at the 2009 Conference USA Championship.

5.Jonathan Fly is making his second consecutive start for the Memphis after transferring from Auburn. Last week at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, Fly fired an opening round of 72 to lead the Tigers. He then followed it up with rounds of 76-78 to finish T47th.