The men’s golf team begins its 2009 spring season today at the John Burns Invitational in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

SMU golfers have claimed medalist honors two of the past three years at the par-72, 6,916-yard Leilehua Golf Course. Brandon DeStefano took the title in 2006 (when SMU also placed first as a team) while senior Frank Wrenn won two years ago.

“I expect to see some good scores,” said head coach Jay Loar. “We’ve had a good practice, and the team has pulled together well.”

The Mustangs enter today’s first round of play at No. 89 in Golfstat’s Top 100 list, though Loar feels the team’s sub-stellar rank is deceiving.

“We’re usually ranked somewhere in the 30s,” he said. “We just had a very difficult finish to last year.”

SMU placed seventh at the Baylor Intercollegiate in late October, the team’s last event of the fall, though true freshman James Kwon won individual medalist honors by one stroke en route to being named the Conference USA Golfer of the Week.

Sophomore Kelly Kraft won the C-USA honor earlier in the month after winning the Jerry Pate Invitational with a 6-under par performance.

In January, Kraft was invited to play in the 2009 British Amateur to take place in mid-June.

Kwon and Kraft are among a crop of young talent hoping to lead the Mustangs against tough competitors at the John Burns Invitational, which ends Friday in Hawaii.

Among the 17 teams at the event will be No. 11 Arkansas, No. 22 UNLV and No. 29 Colorado State.

“We have good team chemistry,” Loar said. “We have a very, very good chance this week and we should be [ranked] in the 30s by the end of the season.”

SMU’s next event will take place March 9 and 10 at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette.