Golf Back in Action this Weekend at the Gator Invitational
2/10/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Flames will face their toughest test of the 2021 season when Liberty returns to the golf links for this weekend's Gator Invitational presented by VyStar.
The three-day, 54-hole event will once again be hosted by Florida at its on-campus home course, the Mark Bostick Golf Course (par 70, 6,701 yards) in Gainesville, Fla.
The course has been Florida's home golf course since the 1960s and has hosted the Gator Invitational since 1978.
To allow for better social distancing for the teams, the tournament has been stretched to a three-day event. Also, the 21-team field will be sent off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees in morning and afternoon flights all three days, starting at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.
Liberty will open up play at this event during the afternoon flight on Friday, going off the No. 10 tee at 12:20 p.m., along with golfers from Auburn and South Carolina.
This year's 21-team field includes 13 teams who finished the shortened 2020 fall season ranked inside the top-35, including Vanderbilt (No. 1), Georgia (No. 3), Tennessee (No. 4), Arkansas (No. 6), Auburn (No. 8), and Alabama (No. 9).
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2020-21 Scoring Average)
• Kieran Vincent (70.33)
• Alexandre Fuchs (71.17)
• Jonathan Yaun (72.50)
• Ervin Chang (73.83)
• Isaac Simmons (74.83)
Tournament Reflections – Liberty's Previous Showing at the Gator Invitational:
• The Flames are no stranger to Florida's on-campus golf course, having participated in this event the last nine seasons.
• Liberty's best showing at this event took place in 2019 where the Flames finished in third place with a 2-under par 842 (285-277-280).
• Prior to the 2019 event, Liberty's best showing in seven previous trips to Gainesville, Fla., were sixth-place finishes in 2012, 2016 and 2018.
• Ervin Chang paced the way for the Flames in 2019, finished tied for seventh place with a 2-over par 208 (73-63-72).
• Last year, Liberty's fifth-place finish as a team was led by Jonathan Yaun, who individually finished in seventh place with a 2-under par 208 (70-71-67).
• Four out of Liberty's starting five golfers this weekend also participated in the 2020 version of the Gator Invitational (Yaun: 7 -2 208; Vincent T10 +1 211; Fuchs T37 +7 2017; Chang T52 +11 221).
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
• The Flames posted their second solid start during the early part of the 2021 schedule, finishing tied for second with Duke at the Sea Best Invitational, Feb. 1-2.
• Liberty opened the 2021 schedule by finishing tied for first place with Florida at the Timuquana Collegiate, Jan. 25 and 26.
• Kieran Vincent has posted back-to-back top-10 finishes this spring and leads the Flames with a 70.33 scoring average.
• Vincent finished tied for fourth with an 8-under par 208 (72-67-69) at the Timuquana Collegiate and shared sixth place with a 4-over par 214 (68-71-75) at the Sea Best Invitational.
• Following the Timuquana Collegiate, Vincent was named the ASUN Men's Golfer of the Week on Jan. 28.
• Alexandre Fuchs posted Liberty's other top-10 showing of the spring, finishing tied for seventh place at the Timuquana Collegiate with a 6-under par 210 (68-67-75).
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):
Alabama (No. 9)
Arkansas (No. 6)
Auburn (No. 8)
Coastal Carolina (No. 35)
Florida (No. 15)
Georgia (No. 3)
Georgia Southern (No. 11)
Jacksonville
Liberty
LSU (No. 16)
Mississippi State (No. 21)
Missouri (No. 34)
North Florida
Penn State
South Carolina (No. 12)
Tennessee (No. 4)
UCF
USF
Vanderbilt (No. 1)
Washington
West Virginia
Note: Current Golfstat.com rankings reflect only teams that played golf during the Fall 2020 season.
Course Information:
• Mark Bostick Golf Course (Gainesville, Fla.)
• Par 70, 6,701 yards
Following the Flames at Gator Invitational:
• Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
• Twitter @LibertyGolf
• Instagram @LibertyGolf
• Round 1 Tee Time: Friday at 12:20 p.m./EST (No. 10 tee)
