No. 3 Seed Liberty in 3rd Place after Day 1 of NCAA Tallahassee Regional

No. 3 seed Liberty fired a 5-under par 283 during the first round of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Monday and is currently in third place.

The Flames began their 11^th NCAA Regional appearance in program history with a 5-under par 283 on their first trip around the Seminole Legacy Golf Club (par 72, 7,505 yards).

Liberty was one of five teams in the 14-team field to break par on Monday. Scores started to climb during the second half of the day due to gusty wind conditions.

The top five teams from each of the six NCAA Regionals will advance to the 2021 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., May 28 – June 2.

The Flames' third-place showing during the first day of play at the regional event was due in large part to the strong play of Kieran Vincent.

The No. 21 ranked golfer in the country fired a 7-under par 65, his lowest round of the season, and currently holds a two-stroke individual lead.

Liberty will return to the Seminole Legacy Golf Club for tomorrow's second round where they will be paired up with No. 1 seed Florida State and No. 5 seed Georgia Tech. The teams will be sent off the No. 1 tee (par 4, 440 yards) starting at 8:30 a.m.  

Round Recap – Liberty's Starting Five:
• No. 21 Kieran Vincent – 1 7-under par 65 (65)
• Jonathan Yaun – T19 1-under par 71 (71)
• Zach Barbin – T19 1-under par 71 (71)
• Ervin Chang – T57 4-over par 76 (76)
• No. 80 Alexandre Fuchs – T65 5-over par 77 (77)

Field Reflections:
• No. 1 seed Florida State used its familiarity with its home course to post a first round leading score of 17-under par 271.
• The 14-team field played the newly renovated course at a 73.03 scoring average during Round 1 of the NCAA Regional.
• No. 5 seed Georgia Tech sits six shots behind Florida State and six shots clear of Liberty following an 11-under par 277.
• Liberty holds a one-stroke lead over Ohio State (4^th place/4-under par 284) and is two shots clear of No. 2 seed Georgia (5^th place/3-under par 285).
• A total of 26 players in the 75-man field finished the day in red figures, including three of Liberty's starting five.   

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
• Vincent carded a season-low 7-under par 65 on Monday and tied the lowest round of his collegiate career (also fired during his first event as a freshman in 2016).
• Vincent outdueled Florida State's John Pak, the No. 1 ranked golfer in the country, and No. 8 ranked Davis Thompson from Georgia with the three golfers playing in the same group and firing a combined 17-under par.
• Pak, Thompson and Jacksonville's Michael Sakane are tied for second place following a 5-under par 67.
• The Flames carded two of the nine eagles recorded on the day, including a hole-out from a greenside bunker by Vincent at No. 4 (par 5, 560 yards).
• Jonathan Yaun and Zach Barbin are currently tied for 19^th place at 1-under par 71.
• Both golfers were 4-under par with three holes left to play, but they each bogeyed No. 16 (par 4, 480 yards) and double bogeyed No. 18 (par 4, 490 yards) to fall back down the individual leaderboard.
• As a team, Liberty recorded four bogeys and a pair of double bogeys during the last three holes of play on Monday.

Course Information:
• Seminole Legacy Golf Club (Tallahassee, Fla.)
• Par 72, 7,505 yards

Following the Flames at NCAA Tallahassee Regional:
•  Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
• Twitter @LibertyGolf
• Instagram @LibertyGolf
• Round 2 Tee Time: Tuesday at 8:30 a.m./EST (No. 1 tee)

Photos Provided by Todd Drexler: