BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Florida A&M University men's golf opens defense of its Southwestern Athletic Conference championship Monday morning at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Oxmoor Valley Ridge Course, where the Rattlers will try to become the first program to claim back-to-back SWAC men's golf titles since the championship moved to a 54-hole stroke-play format.

The three-day event, running April 13-15, begins with a 7:30 a.m. CST shotgun start on a Ridge Course layout that stretches 6,815 yards at par 72. Known for dramatic elevation changes, dense tree cover and a signature par-5 third hole whose green is framed by exposed shale rock — a nod to Birmingham's mining heritage — the course will test every corner of each competitor's game.

FAMU brings a five-man lineup seeded first through fifth, headlined by No. 1 seed Phalatphon Viboonviriyasakul, who tees off at 9:00 a.m. in Group 10. He is joined by Sascha Robinson (Seed 2), Emilio Garcia (Seed 3), Miguel Illas (Seed 4) and Jonathan Scott (Seed 5), giving the Rattlers balanced firepower across every pairing.

The field features 10 groups of four, with players from Jackson State, Southern, Texas Southern, Alabama State, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Prairie View A&M, Alabama A&M and Florida A&M rotating through Hole 1 tee times between 7:30 and 9:00 a.m.

All 54 holes must be completed to determine a champion, though 36 holes constitute the minimum should weather intervene. The final round on April 15 will be broadcast live on SWAC TV.

For Florida A&M, however, the mission is singular: prove last year's breakthrough was no aberration.