Flames Return to Sea Best Invitational to Begin February Schedule
1/31/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sea Best Invitational Live Stats
After a strong opening to the spring season, Liberty returns to a familiar stop on its schedule when the Flames compete at the Sea Best Invitational.
Liberty will tee it up in the greater Jacksonville area for the second week in a row when the Flames return to the TPC Sawgrass – Valley Course (par 70, 6,790 yards) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The two-day, 54-hole event is hosted by Jacksonville, which will be one of four ASUN Conference schools the Flames will see next week (FGCU, Jacksonville, Lipscomb and North Florida).
The Sea Best Invitational starts play on Monday where the 12-team field will play 36-continuous holes with a shotgun start set to begin at 8 a.m.
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2020-21 Scoring Average)
• Kieran Vincent (69.33)
• Alexandre Fuchs (70.00)
• Isaac Simmons (70.67)
• Jonathan Yaun (71.00)
• Ervin Chang (74.33)
• Individual: Zach Barbin (74.67)
Tournament Reflections – Liberty's Previous Showing at the Sea Best Invitational:
• Liberty has participated in this event 10 out of the last 11 years, posting nine top-five finishes.
• Last year, Liberty opened the spring season by finishing in third place at this event, carding a 1-over par 841 (283-279-279).
• Ervin Chang paced the way for the Flames, finishing tied for sixth place with a 3-under par 207 (71-71-65).
• Chang has found success on this course during his career with a career scoring average of 68.9 during nine rounds, including four sub-70 rounds.
• Chang claimed medalist honors at this same event in 2018, winning in a playoff after carding a 6-under par 204 (67-67-70).
• Jonathan Yaun (T12 – even par 210/69-71-70) and Kieran Vincent (T19 – 1-over par 211/71-69-71) both posted top 20 finishes at last year's event.
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
• During their first tournament since last March, the Flames showed little rust, finishing tied for first place with No. 15 Florida at the Timuquana Collegiate.
• The Gators claimed the team title on the second playoff hole during the event held last Monday and Tuesday.
• The Flames finished the tournament at the Timuquana Country Club by carding a 21-under par 843 (287-273-283).
• Kieran Vincent paced the way for the Flames, finishing tied for fourth place with an 8-under par 208 (72-67-69).
• Following the event, Vincent was named the ASUN Men's Golfer of the Week, sharing the honors with North Florida's Nick Gabrelcik, who also finished tied for fourth place.
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
• The Flames, along with the rest of the ASUN Conference, did not compete during the Fall 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Liberty finished the shortened 2019-20 season ranked No. 30 in the final Golfstat national rankings.
• Liberty's Kieran Vincent and Jonathan Yaun were named to the 2020 GCAA/Ping All-America team, giving the Flames their fourth and fifth All-Americans in program history.
• Four members of Liberty's roster were named to the ASUN All-Conference team at the end of the 2019-20 season: Ervin Chang, Alexandre Fuchs, Kieran Vincent and Jonathan Yaun.
• Jonathan Yaun led the Flames during the 2019-20 season with a program record 70.78 season stroke average.
• Yaun posted three top-10 finishes, including his first career collegiate tournament win, and was named the 2020 VaSID Golfer of the Year.
Looking at the Field (Golfstat national ranking as of 11/17/20):
Campbell
Charlotte
College of Charleston
Duke
FGCU
Florida (as individuals)
Jacksonville
Liberty
Lipscomb
NC State
Toledo
North Florida
USC Upstate
Note: Current Golfstat.com rankings reflect only teams that played golf during the Fall 2020 season.
Course Information:
• TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
• Par 70, 6,858 yards
Following the Flames at Sea Best Invitational:
• Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
• Twitter @LibertyGolf
• Instagram @LibertyGolf
• Round 1 Tee Time: Monday at 8:00 a.m./EST (shotgun start)
