No. 14 Liberty Closes Regular Season at Robert Kepler Intercollegiate

Robert Kepler Intercollegiate Live Stats

Just four days removed from winning the ASUN Championship, No. 14 Liberty will return to the course this weekend to wrap up its regular season schedule.

The Flames will be one of 16 teams in the field at the 2021 Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, contested Saturday and Sunday at the OSU Golf Club – Scarlet Course (par 71, 7,455 yards) in Columbus, Ohio.

The Ohio State hosted event will serve as Liberty's final tune-up for the NCAA Regionals.  The Flames earned an automatic bid by virtue of their ASUN Championship title and will be making their ninth NCAA Regional appearance in the last 10 regional events.

The 16-team field including seven top 75 ranked teams: Illinois (No. 8), Liberty (No. 14), Iowa (No. 39), Kent State (No. 40), Indiana (No. 47), Purdue (No. 58) and Ohio State (No. 70).

Play gets underway on Saturday morning off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees starting at 7:30 a.m. The tournament will consist of 36 continuous holes of play on Saturday, followed by a final 18 of competition on Sunday.  

Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2020-21 Scoring Average)
• No. 6 Kieran Vincent (69.78)
• No. 51 Alexandre Fuchs (70.89)
• No. 67 Jonathan Yaun (71.28)
• Ervin Chang (71.67)
• Zach Barbin (73.42)

Tournament Reflections – Liberty's Previous Showing at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate:  
• The Flames have previously played in this event twice (2014 and 2016).
• Liberty finished in third place in 2014 with a 25-over par 877 (288-293-296) and in ninth place in 2016 with a 36-over par 604 (307-297).
• The 2016 event was shortened to 36 holes following inclement weather that included gusty winds and snow showers.
• UNLV won the event in 2016 with an 18-over par 586 (289-297), followed by UAB (293-298) and Michigan State (293-298) who tied for second with a 23-over par 591.
• Mickey DeMorat paced the Flames during the 2016 tournament, finishing tied for eighth place with a 4-over par 146 (72-74).

From the 18^th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
• The Flames won their first-ever ASUN Championship in record setting fashion on Tuesday at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.
• Liberty posted a winning score of 20-under par 832 (273-281-278), the lowest 54-hole team total in ASUN Championship history.
• The win marked Liberty's first ASUN Conference title since joining the league during the 2018-19 athletics season.
• With the win on Tuesday, the Flames have now captured six NCAA Division I conference championship titles, including five when Liberty was a member of the Big South Conference (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018).
• The Flames had four of their five starters finish the event inside the top 10 individual leaderboard.
• Zach Barbin (69-72-68), Kieran Vincent (68-69-72) and Jonathan Yaun (67-71-71) shared fourth place with a 4-under par 209 to lead the Flames.
• All three golfers were named the ASUN Championship All-Tournament team for their top five finish in the championship event.

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
• The Flames are currently ranked No. 14 in the latest Golfstat national rankings, the second highest ranking in program history.
• Individually, Liberty's Kieran Vincent is ranked No. 6 in the country, the highest individual player ranking in program history.
• Alexandre Fuchs is currently ranked No. 51, while Jonathan Yaun is ranked No. 67 in the country. 
• Vincent is one of 15 players who have been named to the 2021 Fred Haskins Award Watch List, an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college golfer in the country.
• Vincent has finished top 10 in all six of Liberty's spring tournament events and leads the team with a 69.78 scoring average.
• Fuchs ranks second on Liberty's roster with a 70.89 scoring average, aided by a pair of top-10 finishes this spring.

Looking at the Field (Golfstat national ranking as of 4/23/21):
Dayton (No. 157)
Illinois (No. 8)
Indiana (No. 47)
Iowa (No. 39)
Kent State (No. 40)
Liberty (No. 14)
Maryland (No. 105)
Michigan (No. 165)
Michigan State (No. 76)
Northern Illinois (No. 177)
Northwestern (No. 77)
Ohio State (No. 70)
Penn State (No. 101)
Purdue (No. 58)
Rutgers (No. 92)
Toledo (No. 128)

Course Information:
• OSU Golf Club – Scarlet Course (Columbus, Ohio)
• Par 71, 7,455 yards

Following the Flames at Robert Kepler Intercollegiate:
• Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
• Twitter @LibertyGolf
• Instagram @LibertyGolf
• Round 1 Tee Time: Saturday – 7:30 a.m.