No. 1 Seed Liberty Set for ASUN Men’s Golf Championship
4/23/2023 11:05:43 PM | Men's Golf
No. 1 seed Liberty will be looking for its second conference title in three years when the Flames take to the golf course on Tuesday for the 2023 ASUN Men’s Golf Championship.
The three-day, 54-hole event will be contested at a new venue in 2023 with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove (par 72, 7,212 yards) set to host the event in Mobile, Ala.
Liberty enters the tournament looking for its second ASUN Conference title after winning the championship in 2021. Overall, the Flames have won six conference titles since 2011.
The tournament’s 14-team field includes five teams currently ranked inside the top 100 in the country in the latest Golfstat national rankings: No. 1 seed Liberty (No. 39 nationally), No. 2 seed North Florida (No. 42), No. 3 seed FGCU (No. 85) No. 4 seed Stetson (No. 90) and No. 5 seed Lipscomb (No. 95).
Liberty, North Florida and FGCU will be sent off the No. 1 tee at 9:40 a.m. CST on Tuesday.
Play will conclude on Thursday when the 2023 ASUN Conference men’s golf champion will be crowned.
Now on The Tee – Liberty’s Starting Five (2022-23 Stroke Average)
- Jonathan Yaun (71.30)
- Josh Ryan (71.36)
- Austin Barbin (72.00)
- Isaac Simmons (72.15)
- Connor Polender (72.42)
- Alternate: Brett Reid (73.61)
Tournament Reflections – Liberty’s Last Showing at the ASUN Championship:
- No. 36 Liberty pushed eventual tournament champion North Florida midway through Round 3 of the 2022 ASUN Championship but ultimately finished in third place.
- Midway through the final round, Liberty got within five shots of the Ospreys on several occasions, but the Flames would get no closer.
- Liberty finished the event carding a 9-over par 861 (294-280-287) at the University of Georgia Golf Course (par 71, 7,258 yards) in Athens, Ga.
- No. 39 North Florida was the only team in the field to finish under par, posting a winning score of 4-under par 848 (280-283-285).
- FGCU took the runner-up spot, finishing 11 shots behind North Florida with a 7-over par 859 (293-282-284).
- Austin Duncan paced the Flames during the championship event, finishing in a three-way tie for second place with a final score of 4-under par 209 (74-67-68).
- For his strong showing, Duncan was named to the 2022 ASUN Men’s Golf All-Championship team.
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty’s Last Time Out:
- A strong finish by Austin Barbin and Jonathan Yaun allowed the pair of Liberty golfers to secure a top-20 finish at the 2023 Mason Rudolph Championship, April 10-12.
- Yaun birdied four of his last six holes to close the event hosted by No. 1 Vanderbilt with a 3-under par 69.
- Overall, Yaun finished tied for 18th place with a 1-under par 212 (72-72-68).
- Barbin finished the three-day event taking advantage of the back-to-back par-5 finish at the Vanderbilt Legends Club (par 71, 7,100 yards).
- Barbin posted a birdie-eagle finish to share 18th place with Yaun with a 1-under par 212 (73-68-71).
- Overall, the Flames finished their final event before the ASUN Men’s Golf Championship in seventh place with a 4-over par 856 (287-287-282).
- Liberty was one of six teams in the 15-team field to close the event with an under-par, final-round score (2-under par 282).
- Vanderbilt won its home tournament for the fourth time in a row, posting a commanding 23-shot victory.
- The Commodores’ winning score in 2023 was a 34-under par 818 (274-267-277).
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes
- The Flames moved back inside the top 40 teams in the country this week and enter their eighth spring tournament ranked No. 39 (as of April 19).
- The Flames finished the fall season with a 283.92 team scoring average, the second-best mark in program history (school record: 283.07 in 2016).
- Liberty is currently ranked No. 17 in the country in eagles (20) and No. 11 in birdies (561).
- The Flames also ranked No. 22 in the country in par-5 scoring (4.68 scoring average) and No. 31 in par-3 scoring (3.15 scoring average).
- The Flames entered the 2022-23 season as one of 11 teams in the country who have advanced to the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship each of the last three years.
- The 11-team group includes Arizona State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Liberty, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Texas, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
- Since 2011, Liberty has captured six conference titles in two different conferences.
- Liberty captured the conference title five times as a member of the Big South Conference (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018).
- Liberty won its first-ever ASUN Conference championship in 2021.
- The Flames have advanced to the NCAA Regionals 10 of the last 11 regional events and to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship four times in program history (2012, 2019, 2021 and 2022).
Looking at the Latest Rankings (Golfstat rankings as of April 19):
No. 1 seed Liberty (No. 39)
No. 2 seed North Florida (No. 42)
No. 3 seed FGCU (No. 85)
No. 4 seed Stetson (No. 90)
No. 5 seed Lipscomb (No. 95)
No. 6 seed North Alabama (No. 101)
No. 7 seed Jacksonville (No. 132)
No. 8 seed Jacksonville State (No. 161)
No. 9 seed Kennesaw State (No. 178)
No. 10 seed Central Arkansas (No. 208)
No. 11 seed Austin Peay (No. 224)
No. 12 seed Bellarmine (No. 222)
No. 13 seed Eastern Kentucky (No. 270)
No. 14 seed Queens (N/A)
Course Information:
- RTJ Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove (Mobile, Ala.)
- Par 72, 7,212 yards
Following the Flames at ASUN Men’s Golf Championship:
- Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
- Twitter @LibertyGolf
- Instagram @LibertyGolf
- Round 1 Tee Time: Tuesday at 9:40 a.m./CST (No. 1)
