Liberty Golf Posts Program Record At 2022 Mason Rudolph Championship

Following a fourth-place finish at The Hayt March 27-28, the No. 43 Liberty Flames golf team continued its busy stretch at the 2022 Mason Rudolph Championship hosted by No. 3 Vanderbilt April 1-3. The three-day, 54-hole event included a 15-team field with eight of the teams being ranked inside the top 75 in the country. 

At the Flames’ previous tournament, seniors Kieran Vincent and Austin Duncan continued to lead their team in the right direction. With his 24th fifth-place finish of his career, Vincent shot a 3-under-par 861 (276-296-289). Duncan tied for 13th place with a 2-over-par 218 (77-73-68). 

Duncan now leads the Flames in pars per round. He hoped to begin weekend play at the Mason Rudolph Championships with the same mindset of playing his best and creating opportunities for his team. 

“I’m just looking to kind of the same things as last week,” Duncan said. “We, as a team, did really well getting the ball in play and hitting as many greens as possible. Our ultimate goal is to give ourselves opportunities to score really well, and I hope I can make some more putts this weekend.”

Leading up to the Mason Rudolph Championship, the Flames knew what was ahead of them. The Flames have participated in the Mason Rudolph Championship for the last five years. Vincent, who has played in the competition before, hoped to bring his experience and expertise to the rest of the team. 

“Obviously, you want to expect good things, and I think the team is trending in the right direction,” Vincent said. “I love being able to play out here and give some of the young guys some tips and seeing them swing really good this past week is a good indicator of how we’ll play this weekend. We hold ourselves to a high standard, and at the end of the day, we’re just trying to go out there and give everything we got, accomplishing one shot at a time.”

Head Coach Jeff Thomas emphasized improvement as the main goal at the Mason Rudolph Championship. 

“We just need to be a little more consistent with our play and our ball striking,” Thomas said. “We know what we’re facing in this tournament, and we’re just looking for a little more consistency throughout all of our players.” 

RESULTS

The 2022 Mason Rudolph Championship included a stacked field, but the Flames put on a show, finishing second overall.  

Liberty finished the first day of competition fourth overall, but the Flames excelled on day two, setting the team up to finish second overall, only behind Vanderbilt, the No. 3 team in the nation. That three-round total, 37-under-par 815,  is the best in program history. 

 This is just another stepping stone to the ASUN Championship April 24-26 at the University of Georgia Golf Course.  Thomas said he hopes to continue the team’s winning mindset and improve before facing the challenge of championship play. 

“We try to go to every tournament and win,” Thomas said. “Our goal is to come here, play well and see if we can put ourselves in position to win. That’s our goal objective every time we play.” 

Treadway is a sports reporter.