For the third straight time and fourth time in program history, No. 38 Liberty golf will be advancing to the NCAA National Championship as the Flames wrapped up its three-day tour of the Stockton Regional. Liberty finished in 5th place in the regional. The top five teams of each of the six NCAA Regionals advance to the national championship.

The Flames finished the tournament with a 18-under par 846, several strokes behind Arizona State, the tournament host and No. 4 team in the country. The Sun Devils secured a regional championship by a comfortable margin, as they finished with a 38-under par 826. Advancing to the national championship alongside Arizona State and Liberty from the Stockton Regional are Stanford, BYU, and Oregon.

The Flames entered the NCAA Stockton Regional ranked No. 38 in the Golfstat national rankings and as the No. 7 seed in the regional. Making the program’s 12th appearance at an NCAA men’s golf regional and its 10th in the last 11 regional events, the Flames now advance to the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona which begins May 27.

After finishing tied for fifth place to open regional play on Monday, Liberty finished Tuesday’s second round with an 11-under par 278, the sixth best score of the day. The Flames dropped into seventh place in the regional entering Wednesday’s final round, three strokes behind 5th place and just five strokes behind third place. In Wednesday’s third and final round, Liberty posted a 7-under par 281.

There was plenty of drama on Wednesday with as many as five teams jockeying for the final two spots to advance to the national championship. Entering the back nine of the final round, Oregon, LSU, Denver, Liberty, and Washington were all within striking distance with all five teams separated by just a few strokes. There were several occasions where three of those teams were tied for the fifth and final spot heading into the final holes.

Oregon began to separate themselves and went into the clubhouse with a final score of 21-under par 843, in fourth place and four strokes ahead of their next challengers. On the flip-side, Washington fell off a few strokes and was unable to keep pace with Denver, LSU, and Liberty.

Coming down the final stretch of the last handful of holes, Denver, LSU, and Liberty were all separated by just one stroke. This set the stage for plenty of drama on the final holes.

Arizona State, Stanford, BYU, and Oregon all finished their round and entered the clubhouse with a comfortable lead on fifth place. LSU concluded their day and the tournament with a 16-under par 848 and Denver wrapped up a strong showing for themselves with a 15-under par 849. The Flames had just two holes remaining and were tied with LSU for the fifth best score at 16-under par for the tournament.

Isaac Simmons drained a putt for birdie on No. 18 to move Liberty to 17-under par and ahead of LSU for fifth place with two golfers left on the course. Then, Jonathan Yaun also birdied No. 18 and the Flames moved to 18-under par and two strokes ahead of the Tigers.

Yaun posted the top individual scorer for the Flames as he carded a 8-under par 208 for the tournament, good for a 5th place tie in the individual race. BYU’s Carson Lundell won the individual regional championship with an 11-under par 205.

Simmons finished second on Liberty’s roster for the tournament, with a 5-under par 211. Kieran Vincent was just behind him, posting a 3-under par 215. Austin Duncan also finished under par for the tournament, carding a final score of 1-under par 215.

Last year, the Flames finished in fourth place in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional posting a score of 15-under par 849 at the Tallahassee Regional which secured the program’s third trip in program history to the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship. Liberty would go on to finish 21st out of 30 teams at last year’s NCAA National Championship event.

Liberty previously finished in in fifth place at the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional, posting a score of 18-over par 870 at the UGA Golf Course in Athens, Georgia. That finish secured Liberty’s second trip in program history to the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship where the Flames finished 20th out of 30 teams. Liberty’s first top-five regional finish came in 2012 when the Flames won the 2012 NCAA Greensboro Regional and finished in 10th place at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Final standings of the 2022 NCAA Stockton Regional:
1. Arizona State -38
2. Stanford -28
3. BYU -27
4. Oregon -21
5. Liberty -18
6. LSU -16
7. Denver -15
8. Washington -11
9. Nevada -5
10. Abilene Christian -1
11. UC Davis E
12. Houston +3
13. UAB +15
14. Weber State +25

The following teams have advanced to the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona (Golfstat national ranking entering Regionals):

No. 1 Oklahoma
No. 2 Oklahoma State
No. 3 Vanderbilt
No. 4 Arizona State
No. 5 North Carolina
No. 6 Pepperdine
No. 7 Texas
No. 8 Texas Tech
No. 10 Florida
No. 11 Georgia Tech
No. 12 Texas A&M
No. 13 Georgia
No. 14 Arkansas
No. 16 Stanford
No. 17 Wake Forest
No. 18 Auburn
No. 22 Florida State
No. 25 Ole Miss
No. 28 Oregon
No. 29 Kansas
No. 30 East Tennessee State
No. 33 Arizona
No. 35 Ohio State
No. 38 Liberty
No. 39 North Florida
No. 40 South Florida
No. 46 BYU
No. 49 Georgia Southern
No. 50 Utah
No. 53 College of Charleston

*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics