No. 13 Liberty golf clinched the ASUN men’s golf championship on Tuesday in a three-round event over the past three days at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Georgia. The Flames finished the tournament with a 20-under par 832, 13-strokes ahead of Florida Gulf Coast, the No. 3 seed in the tournament who finished 7-under par.
Liberty led from wire to wire after posting an impressive 11-under par 273 during the first round on Sunday to open up a seven-shot lead. It was the Flames second lowest 18-hole team total of the 2021 season during their first trip around the University of Georgia Golf Course. The only other team to break par during play on Sunday was No. 4 seed Jacksonville who fired an opening round 4-under par 280.
No. 18 North Florida, the defending conference champions and 2-seed in the tournament, struggled on Sunday, carding a 5-over par 288, leaving them 16 strokes behind the Flames after the first round, a hole too big for the Ospreys to climb out. UNF finished in fourth place during the tournament posting a final score of 9-over par.
In round two on Monday, Liberty widened its lead with a 3-under par 281, the best round of the day. Jacksonville remained in second place with a 2-under par Monday, falling to nine strokes behind the leading Flames entering Tuesday’s final round.
Jacksonville attempted to make things interesting early in the final round Tuesday, but the Flames quickly turned on the heat and pulled away to coast to the victory. After trailing the Dolphins and the Flames early in the tournament, FGCU had a very solid finish as part of the final group, surging into second place and surpassing Jacksonville with a 6-under par score during Tuesday’s final round, matching Liberty for the best score of the day.
The only drama Tuesday was who would win the individual ASUN title as as six players entered the back nine separated by just two strokes. Jacksonville’s Michael Sakane led after posting a 7-under par 64 in the first round on Sunday. He maintained his score to finish at 7-under par for the tournament and in third place, while having several challengers forge their way into discussion by the final round.
The No. 2 golfer in the country, North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik, finished 8-under par 205 for the tournament as he went to the clubhouse with the individual lead by just one stroke over Sakane and FGCU’s Van Holmgren. Liberty’s Kieran Vincent pulled within one stroke of the lead at 7-under par before finishing at 4-under par and in a three way tie for 4th place. Holmgren carded birdies on 17 and 18 to slide past Gabrelcik and finish at 9-under par and win the individual title.
Liberty’s top four golfers all ranked inside the top 7 on the 45-man leaderboard. Vincent, Jonathan Yaun, and Zach Barbin all finished tied for fourth place at 4-under par while Ervin Chang finished tied for 7th at 3-under par.
Behind Liberty, FGCU, Jacksonville, and North Florida, who finished first through fourth, respectively, North Alabama finished fifth, followed by Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Stetson and Bellarmine who rounded out the nine-team tournament field.
The Flames entered the week ranked No. 13 in the latest Golfstat national rankings, the team’s highest national ranking in program history. Kieran Vincent is ranked No. 7 in the country, the highest individual player ranking in program history. Alexandre Fuchs is currently ranked No. 42 while Jonathan Yaun is ranked No. 89 in the country.
This is the Flames’ first ever ASUN Championship since joining the league during the 2018-19 season and the sixth conference title in program history having won five conference titles in the Big South (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). With the title, the Flames have clinched the ASUN’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional which will be contested May 17-19.
Liberty won the championship this week on the same course the Flames finished in fifth place at the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional earning the team its second appearance in program history at the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship. Previously, the Flames won the NCAA Greensboro Regional in 2012 and finished 10th at the Golf National Championship. Liberty will hope to regain some of the magic from the 2019 and 2012 teams next month.
*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics
