Flames to Close Regular Season at Lewis Chitengwa Memorial

The Flames will remain close to home for their final regular season event of the spring as Liberty starts the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial on Monday.

The event is hosted by Virginia at the Birdwood Golf Course (par 71, 7,116 yards) in Charlottesville, Va., and is roughly 70 miles from campus.

The tournament will feature 36 holes of continuous play on Monday, followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Play will begin both days at 8:30 a.m.

Liberty will conclude the month when they look to defend their Conference USA title at the 2025 Conference USA Men's Golf Championship, April 21-25, in Texarkana, Ark.

The Flames will look to hone their skills against some of the top teams in the ACC, as the 14-team field features No. 11 Florida State, No. 13 Virginia and No. 57 Clemson. No. 27 Northwestern rounds out the three top-50 ranked teams in the field.

Liberty will be well represented in the event with its traditional starting five players, along with three individuals (Evan Barbin, Blake Hogan and Luke Libbey).

Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2024-25 Stroke Average)

Ike Joy (71.06)
Josh Ryan (72.39)
Michael Lugiano (72.76)
Andrew Gregory (73.14)
Pascal Gunther (73.56)
Individual: Evan Barbin (75.00)
Individual: Blake Hogan (75.40)
Individual: Luke Libbey (75.43)

Tournament Reflections – Liberty's Last Showing at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:

This will be Liberty's third appearance at the relatively new Lewis Chitengwa Memorial.
The Flames finished in sixth place during the tournament's inaugural event in 2022, carding a 6-under par 846 (285-279-282).
Last year, Liberty finished in 10^th place with a 17-over par 869 (288-296-285).
Two players on Liberty's active current roster played in the 2024 event.
Josh Ryan finished tied for 27^th place with a 3-over par 216 (74-71-71), while Ike Joy finished in 78^th place with a 22-over par 235 (75-81-79).

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

Liberty opened a busy April schedule with a ninth place at the Mason Rudolph Championship (April 4-5), carding a 6-over par 858 (284-286-288).
Josh Ryan (72-74-66) and Michael Lugiano (69-70-73) paced Liberty during the Championship.
The pair of golfers finished the event tied for 22^nd place with a 1-under par 212.
Pascal Gunther, who was competing in the event as an individual, finished tied for 32^nd place with a 2-over par 215 (73-72-70).
Auburn, the top ranked team in the field at No. 2, won its third tournament of the season with a winning score of 38-under par 814 (276-270-268).

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:

Liberty enters its final regular season tournament ranked No. 110 in the latest national rankings (Scoreboard Powered by Clippd rankings as of April 9).
Liberty currently ranks fifth in Conference USA in the latest national rankings: New Mexico State (No. 63), Kennesaw State (No. 69), Sam Houston (No. 75), UTEP (No. 101), Liberty (No. 110), Middle Tennessee (No. 117), Louisiana Tech (No. 119), Jacksonville State (No. 129) and Western Kentucky (No. 178).
Ike Joy is the third-best ranked golfer in Conference USA entering this week: Claes Borregaard, Kennesaw State (No. 98), Max Schliesing, UTEP (No. 148) and Ike Joy, Liberty (No. 169).
Liberty has had a pair of golfers earn Conference USA Player of the Week honors during the 2024-25 season.
Following a fourth-place finish at the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational, Ike Joy was named the conference's player of the week on November 6.
After claiming his first collegiate medalist honor at an individual event hosted by Georgia Southern, Michael Lugiano took home the league's top weekly honor on February 5.
Michael Lugiano claimed medalist honors at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate with a winning score of 9-under par 207 (67-70-70) on February 2.
With the victory, Lugiano earned the 35th individual medalist honor in Liberty's NCAA Division I program history and the first since 2022.
Joy earned his second CUSA weekly honor on March 12 when he was named the conference's player of the week following a sixth-place finish at The Hayt.
Michael Lugiano currently leads the Flames with 72 birdies, followed by Ike Joy (61), Josh Ryan (56) and Pascal Gunther (52).
The Flames enter the spring portion of their season looking to capture their ninth conference title in program history (Big South Conference: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018), ASUN Conference (2021 and 2023), Conference USA (2024).
The Flames have advanced to the NCAA Regionals 12 of the last 13 regional events and to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship four times in program history (2012, 2019, 2021 and 2022).
For the first time in program history, Liberty will host an NCAA Men's Golf Regional when they welcome some of the best teams in the country to the Poplar Grove Golf Course in Amherst, Va., May 12-14, 2025.

Looking at the Latest Rankings:
(Scoreboard Powered by Clippd Rankings as of April 9)
Arkansas (No. 60)
FGCU (No. 51)
Clemson (No. 57)
Florida State (No. 11)
Liberty (No. 110)
Loyola, Md. (No. 134)
Maryland (No. 141)
Northwestern (No. 27)
North Florida (No. 94)
Texas State (No. 135)
Toledo (No. 123)
Virginia (No. 13)

Course Information:

Birdwood Golf Course (Charlottesville, Va.)
Par 71, 7,116 yards

Following the Flames at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial:

Live stats will be available at Scoreboard.com
Twitter @LibertyGolf
Instagram @LibertyGolf
Round 1 Tee Time: Monday at 8:30 a.m./EST (No. 8-10 tee)

Schedule

Flames to Close Regular Season at Lewis Chitengwa Memorial

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Barbin

Andrew Gregory

Pascal Gunther

Blake Hogan

Ike Joy

Luke Libbey

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

Flames to Close Regular Season at Lewis Chitengwa Memorial

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Barbin

Andrew Gregory

Pascal Gunther

Blake Hogan

Ike Joy

Luke Libbey

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

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