Flames Kick Off Spring Season at Sea Best Invitational

Liberty returns to the course following a three-month break as the Flames kick off the spring portion of 2023-24 at the 2024 Sea Best Invitational on Monday.

The two-day, 54-hole event is hosted by Jacksonville at the TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

The sister course to the famed TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course, home to The Players Championship on the PGA Tour, will play at a par 70, 6,790 yards this year.

The Flames last played in a team event 93 days ago when they wrapped up their fall season with a third-place finish at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic (Oct. 26-28).

Play gets underway on Monday at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start (36 holes on Monday). The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Tuesday.

Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2023-24 Stroke Average)

Josh Ryan (70.00)
Isaac Simmons (70.78)
Ike Joy (72.11)
Austin Barbin (72.75)
Evan Barbin (75.67)

Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at the Sea Best Invitational:

Liberty has participated in this event 13 out of the last 14 years, posting 12 top-five finishes.
Last year, Liberty opened the tournament portion of its spring schedule with a third-place finish at this same event.
Liberty carded a 14-over par 854 (291-280-283), finishing five strokes behind event runner-up North Florida's 9-over par 849 (286-275-288).
Florida ran away with the team title, posting a winning score of 14-under par 826 (279-276-271) to win by 23 strokes.
Liberty had one of the eight players in the 78-man field to finish in red figures as the Flames' Jonathan Yaun finished in eighth place with a 1-under par 209 (75-66-68).
Four of the five starting players in this year's lineup for the Flames also participated in the 2023 event.
Austin Barbin finished tied for 18^th place with a 4-over par 214 (76-69-69), while Josh Ryan finished tied for 33^rd place with an 8-over par 218 (74-71-73).
Isaac Simmons finished tied for 36^th place with a 5-over par 219 (72-74-73), while Ike Joy competed as an individual and finished tied for 22^nd place with a 5-over par 215 (75-71-69).

From the 18^th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:

The Flames finished up the fall portion of their 2023-24 schedule with a third-place showing at the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate (Oct. 26-28).
Liberty carded a 39-under par 813 (262-272-279) following three rounds at the Ka'anapali Golf Club - Royal Ka'anapali Course (par 71, 6,700 yards).
The 813 is the second-lowest 54-hole total in program history, ranking only two strokes behind Liberty's 811 53-under par score that allowed the Flames to claim the 2023 ASUN Men's Golf Championship.
Liberty only trailed two teams out of 20 at the end of the three-day event. No. 9 ETSU (272-267-271) and No. 14 Oklahoma (272-267-271) shared the team championship three shots ahead of Liberty with a winning score of 42-under par 810.
Josh Ryan paced the Flames at the event, finishing with the same score as he did during his freshman season. The sophomore finished tied for fourth place with a 12-under par 201 (65-65-71), matching his career-low 54-hole total from last year.
Brett Reid finished just two shots behind Ryan in eighth place with a 10-under par 203 (64-68-71), his second-lowest career 54-hole total.
Austin Barbin closed out the final round of his last fall tournament with Liberty by matching his career low round with a 5-under par 66. The graduate student finished the tournament in 30th place with a 5-under par 208 (67-75-66).

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes

The Flames finished the fall season ranked No. 66 in the country in the first release of the new Clippd national rankings.
Liberty had two players finish the fall season with a sub-71.00 stroke average – Josh Ryan (70.0) and Isaac Simmons (70.78).
Ryan also paced Liberty during the fall, playing 10-of-12 rounds at par or better, posting four rounds in the 60s, two top-10 finishes and 51 birdies.
Liberty carded six eagles during the fall season with five of the six coming from its pair of graduate students – Austin Barbin (3) and Isaac Simmons (2).
Liberty finished the fall with a team stroke average of 285.08.
The Flames enter the spring season looking to capture their eighth conference title since 2011 and their first as a member of Conference USA.
Liberty closed out its time in the ASUN Conference by winning the title in record fashion when the Flames posted a 53-under par 811 (275-261-275) in the championship event.
Liberty captured the conference title five times as a member of the Big South Conference (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018) and twice as a member of the ASUN Conference (2021 and 2023).
The Flames have advanced to the NCAA Regionals 11 of the last 12 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 (Clippd National Rankings entering the spring):
Cal Poly (No. 105)
Campbell (No. 176)
FGCU (No. 50)
Florida (No. 26)
Florida Atlantic (No. 124)
Jacksonville (No. 113)
Kennesaw State (No. 90)
Liberty (No. 66)
Lipscomb (No. 93)
Louisiana Tech (No. 140)
Louisville (No. 45)
North Florida (No. 33)
UCF (No. 157)
USC Upstate (No. 265)
UTSA
Course Information:

TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
Par 70, 6,790 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)

Schedule

Flames Kick Off Spring Season at Sea Best Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austin Barbin

Evan Barbin

Ike Joy

Brett Reid

Josh Ryan

Isaac Simmons

Jonathan Yaun

Flames Kick Off Spring Season at Sea Best Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austin Barbin

Evan Barbin

Ike Joy

Brett Reid

Josh Ryan

Isaac Simmons

Jonathan Yaun

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