Liberty University Golf Team Falls To University Of Texas El Paso During CUSA Championship

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.