Feb. 7, 2016 WACO, Texas -- Baylor men's golf opens its 2016 spring season at the 16th-annual UTSA Oak Hills Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will begin Monday on the par-71, 6,765-yard course at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.

The Bears return to the tournament as defending champion, and BU has won the event three times in its 15-year history -- 2000, 2006 and 2015. Last year, Baylor shot 2-under 850 to tie the fifth-lowest team score in tournament history.

Medalist honors have been won by a Baylor player in each of the last four seasons, with Joakim Mikkelsen winning in 2012 and Kyle Jones claiming the individual title in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In addition to those years, Ryan Baca won in 2004 and 2006, and Jeremy Alcorn won in 2005, giving BU seven medalist winners in the tournament's 15-year history.

Baylor is ranked No. 44 nationally in the latest GolfStat Division I rankings. The Bears are the second-highest ranked squad in the 15-team field that includes Houston Baptist, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, North Texas, No. 13 Oklahoma, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern Miss, Texas State, Tulsa, UMKC, UTSA and Wichita State.

"The fall was eye-opening," head coach Mike McGraw said. "We just didn't play like I thought we could. We were young, and I don't ever use that as an excuse. You were recruited to come here to play. All of the kids felt like we underachieved."

Baylor's lineup to open the spring features Andreas Gjesteby, Matthew Perrine, Braden Bailey, Frederik Andersen and Nick Thornton. Hunter Shattuck and Jackson Heazel will compete as individuals.

"This golf course is set up for Braden Bailey and Matthew Perrine, who are medium-length players," McGraw said. "It's a really tight golf course."

Monday's first round is set for an 8 a.m. CT shotgun start. Perrine and Gjesteby will begin on the first tee, Bailey will tee off from No. 2, Andersen will start on No. 3 and Thornton will begin his round on the fourth hole. Shattuck will tee off on No. 17 and Heazel will begin on No. 18. Players in Baylor's lineup will be paired with golfers from UTSA, Oklahoma and North Texas.

Teams will play two rounds Monday, and Tuesday's final round is set for tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.

Follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the season.