Liberty University’s Golf team traveled to the Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Arkansas for the Conference USA (CUSA) Golf Championship April 21-24 where the Flames fell to the University of Texas at El Paso 3-2 in the semifinal.
In the first round of stroke play, the Flames led in team scoring with a total 11-under-par 277. Junior Josh Ryan ended the day in first for individual scoring being 5-under par.
Redshirt junior Ike Joy tied for second with a 4-under par. Joy and Ryan had a combined total of 9-under par.
During round two of stroke play, the Flames could not match the 11-under par they finished with the day before. Liberty closed out the second day with a 5-over-par 293. Joy advanced to the No. 1 spot on the individual leaderboard totaling 5-under-par 139 across both rounds. Liberty ended day two still in the No. 1 spot despite the team’s lackluster performance.
Round three of stroke play once again saw a stronger performance from Liberty.
At the end of the third round, the Flames finished 9-under-par 279 to maintain their spot at the top of the leaderboard. Joy finished second overall in individual stroke play with 7-under-par 209 across all rounds.
“Teammates were grinding. I know they played well. I really wasn’t that worried for the entire day about them. I knew they’d get the job done. I was just trying to get mine done,” Joy said. “I’ll gladly take the individual stroke play performance, and I’m glad we’re moving on to match play.”
Liberty secured the No. 1 spot going into the CUSA Semifinals where they went up against UTEP for the second year in a row. Sophomore Andrew Gregory gained the first point for Liberty when he secured the win over UTEP junior Braden Smith 2 and 1.
Despite the strong start, the Flames lost the next two matches against the Miners. Freshman Michael Lugiano evened the score 2-2 with a 2 and 1 win against UTEP freshman Alexandre Godin.
In the final match, Joy faced UTEP redshirt senior Max Schliesing. They went into extra holes after resulting in a tie. Ultimately, Schliesing took the win for the Miners 1-up to send them into the final.
The NCAA Regional field will be selected April 30 at 1 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Liberty will host the NCAA Amherst Regional May 12-14 at the Poplar Grove Golf Club in Amherst, Virginia.
Schlösser is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion.