THIS WEEK: The SMU men's golf team is back in action and opens its spring season at The Farm Collegiate Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The two-day, 54-hole tournament opens Monday.

THE EVENT: The 18-hole Farm Golf Club is a 6,947-yard track that will play at a par of 72. Thirty-six holes will be played on day one, with the final 18 on day two. The Mustangs are making their first appearance at the event.

THE FIELD: The field for the 2016 Farms Collegiate Invitational features nine teams, including Fresno State, Loyola Marymount, Old Dominion, Seattle University, SMU, USF, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and San Diego.

REPRESENTING SMU:
1) Austin Smotherman 2) Alex Higgs 3) Andrew Buchanan 4) Gray Townsend 5) Ryan Burgess

ABOUT SMU: The Mustangs enter the spring season with one win under their belt after a successful appearance at the Erin Hills Intercollegiate. SMU opened the season with a sixth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational behind strong performances from Alex Higgs and Austin Smotherman, who finished tied for 10th and 17th, respectively. The Mustangs found another sixth place finish at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge, shooting a 7-under-par 857. Alex Higgs led the Mustangs with a 6-under 210 to tie for seventh. SMU was scheduled to play in Dallas at the Royal Oaks Invitational to round off the fall season, however the tournament was cancelled due to severe weather.

SMU returns seven players from a successful 2014-15 season that earned five top-five finishes, including a win at The Goodwin, before claiming the American Athletic Conference Championship title and NCAA Regional title. The Mustangs finished its wrapped up its season with a 14th-place team finish at the NCAA Championships in Bradenton, Fla. Bryson DeChambeau, who left SMU at the beginning of the 2015-16 season to train for The Master and U.S. Open, claimed the 2015 NCAA Individual Title (8-under 280) to become only the fifth golfer all-time to win both the U.S. Amateur and NCAA individual title.

SCOUTING REPORT: The Farms Collegiate Invitation features three top-100 teams on the Golfweek/Sagarin poll. SMU is the only team to crack the top 50. San Francisco, who sits at 85th on Golfweek's poll, has finished top-five in three events this season, with a best finish of third. Fresno State, who is ranked 87th, finished in the top-10 in all five fall tournaments, with a season-best second-place finish at the Nick Watney Invitational.

LAST TIME ON THE LINKS: The SMU men's golf team won the Erin Hills Intercollegiate at the par-72, 7,236-yard Erin Hils Golf Course in Erin, Wis. The Mustangs improved off their second-place 2014-15 finish and carded a 13-under 851 to claim the victory. Oklahoma State pressured SMU on the back nine, but finished two strokes behind (-11, 853) to take second place.

In his best performance of the season, Smotherman finished tied for second with an 8-under 208. Smotherman carded seven birdies on the final day and finished five-under in the third round. The second place finish matches Smotherman's career-best which came at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate during his sophomore year.

BETTER WITH AGE: The Mustang 2015-16 roster features seven returning members, including five upperclassmen. The only newcomer to the squad is Dallas-native Piran Adi. Senior Austin Smotherman alongside Ryan Burgess and Maxime Blandin look to lead the Mustangs.

NCAA SANCTION UPDATE: The NCAA imposed several sanctions on the men's golf team, most notably a postseason ban for the 2015-16 season, as well as reductions of scholarships available next three years. SMU has appealed both.

"My focus remains on our student-athletes who are most impacted by the Committee's decisions," said head coach Jason Enloe. "While we are all hopeful that our appeal will be successful, our program will grow stronger regardless of the outcome, and with great student-athletes on our team and a new golf facility on the horizon, I know that great days and championships are ahead for SMU men's golf."

HIGGS GOING STREAKING: Alex Higgs has opened the season red-hot, finishing top-10 or better in all three of the fall contests. Higgs' best finish came at the Golfweek Conference Challenge where he finished tied for seventh. Higgs is ranked No. 88 by Golfweek/Sagarin.

THE POLLS ARE IN: The Mustangs are currently ranked on two major polls, being listed at No. 37 by Golfweek/Sagarin and No. 40 by Golfstat.com.

DECHAMBEAU MAKES HISTORY: SMU's Bryson DeChambeau won the 115th U.S. Amateur Championship, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus and Ryan Moore, as the only golfers to win the NCAA Individual Championship and the U.S. Amateur.

SMU U.S. AMATEUR SUCCESS: Since 1998, four Mustangs have won the U.S. Amateur, more than any collegiate program during that span. DeChambeau is the fourth joining the class consisted of Kelly Kraft (2011), Colt Knost (2007) and Hank Kuehne (1998).

TRINITY FOREST: New Home of SMU Golf: Scheduled to open in the fall of 2016, Trinity Forest Golf Club will become the new home course for SMU Golf. Trinity Forest will resemble many of the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain, featuring a links style course on a rolling meadow with tall native grasses and dramatic bunkering and green complexes.

The team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw - Coore & Crenshaw, Inc. - is building both the championship golf course as well as the short course. The design of Trinity Forest will honor classic golf courses with traditional, strategic golf and great artistry as the guiding philosophy.

Located in the 6,000 acre Great Trinity Forest near the Trinity River Audubon Center about 10 minutes south of downtown Dallas, the 400 acre site will ultimately consist of an 18-hole championship golf course, a world-class practice facility, a clubhouse, a practice academy for SMU's golf teams, a teaching center for The First Tee of Greater Dallas as well as all the necessary infrastructure for hosting prestigious events held by the PGA TOUR, PGA of America and United States Golf Association and the NCAA Tournament.

REMEMBERING PAYNE STEWART: October 25, 2015 marks the 16-year anniversary of the tragic passing of one of SMU's most prominent athletes and one of golf's most charismatic figures, Payne Stewart...the two-time U.S. Open Champion was named as an inductee of the 2015 PGA of America Hall of Fame on Oct. 15.

RESULTS: Live results will be posted on golfstat.com. Full recaps from each day of competition will be posted on www.SMUMustangs.com.