Wednesday, April 23
Texarkana, Ark.
9:00 AM ET/8:00 AM CT
Liberty University
vs
CUSA Men’s Golf Championship
Flames Head Into Match Play as No. 1 Seed at CUSA Championship
4/23/2025 6:13:00 PM | Men's Golf
TEXARKANA, Ark. – A strong finish by the Flames during Round 3 of stroke play will allow Liberty to head into the match play portion of the CUSA Men's Golf Championship as the No. 1 seed on Thursday.
Liberty closed the stroke play portion of the conference championship event with a 9-under par 279 on Wednesday at the Texarkana Country Club (par 72, 6,969 yards). This allowed the Flames to finish atop the leaderboard with an overall 15-under par 849 (277-293-279).
All four of Liberty's counting scores on Wednesday included birdies on the par-5, No. 16 hole (560 yards). The Flames also posted a combined nine birdies during the final four holes of play to allow Liberty to distance itself from Sam Houston.
Sam Houston will be the No. 2 seed in tomorrow's match play event after finishing in second place with a 9-under par 855 (291-283-281).
Kennesaw State will be the No. 3 seed after posting a 3-under par 861 (292-285-284). UTEP (2-under par 862/290-284-288) defeated New Mexico State (2-under par 862/291-288-283) in a playoff to claim the No. 4 seed.
The Flames are familiar with UTEP in match play, having defeated the Miners in last year's championship match play round, 3-2-0. The two teams needed five extra playoff holes before the Flames were able to hoist their first CUSA Men's Golf Championship title.
New Mexico State's Aidan Thomas closed with back-to-back birdies on the No. 8 (par 4, 395 yards) and No. 9 (par 4, 402 yards) holes, his 17th and 18th holes of the day, to secure the league's individual medalist honors. Thomas finished atop the individual leaderboard with a winning score of 8-under par 208 (80-70-68).
Liberty's Ike Joy got to 7-under par with a birdie at No. 16 (par 5, 560 yards). Joy had looks at birdie on No. 17 (par 4, 291 yards) and No. 18 (par 4, 462 yards), including a lip-out on a 20-foot birdie try on 18 that could have forced a playoff. Joy finished as the runner-up with a 7-under par 209 (68-71-70).
Overall, Liberty had three golfers finish the stroke play portion of the championship inside the top 10.
Besides Joy's runner-up finish, Andrew Gregory finished in fifth place with a 5-under par 211 (73-70-68). Josh Ryan finished tied for ninth place with a 2-under par 214 (67-79-68).
Five total players earned spots on the CUSA Men's Golf All-Tournament Team – Aidan Thomas (NM State), Ike Joy (Liberty), Claes Borregaard (Kennesaw State), Hugo Trommetter (Sam Houston) and Andrew Gregory (Liberty).
The No. 1 seed Liberty vs. No. 4 seed UTEP match-up will be send off the No. 1 tee starting at 9 a.m. EST/8 a.m. CST on Thursday. The No. 2 seed Sam Houston vs. No. 3 seed Kennesaw State match will go off the No. 10 tee, starting at the same time.
The victors of the two morning semifinal matches will square off in an afternoon championship round, starting at approximately 2 p.m. EST/1 p.m. CST. The championship match play event will be televised live on ESPN+.
Round Recap – Liberty's Starting Five:
Course Information:
Following the Flames at the Conference USA Men's Golf Championship:
Liberty closed the stroke play portion of the conference championship event with a 9-under par 279 on Wednesday at the Texarkana Country Club (par 72, 6,969 yards). This allowed the Flames to finish atop the leaderboard with an overall 15-under par 849 (277-293-279).
All four of Liberty's counting scores on Wednesday included birdies on the par-5, No. 16 hole (560 yards). The Flames also posted a combined nine birdies during the final four holes of play to allow Liberty to distance itself from Sam Houston.
Sam Houston will be the No. 2 seed in tomorrow's match play event after finishing in second place with a 9-under par 855 (291-283-281).
Kennesaw State will be the No. 3 seed after posting a 3-under par 861 (292-285-284). UTEP (2-under par 862/290-284-288) defeated New Mexico State (2-under par 862/291-288-283) in a playoff to claim the No. 4 seed.
The Flames are familiar with UTEP in match play, having defeated the Miners in last year's championship match play round, 3-2-0. The two teams needed five extra playoff holes before the Flames were able to hoist their first CUSA Men's Golf Championship title.
New Mexico State's Aidan Thomas closed with back-to-back birdies on the No. 8 (par 4, 395 yards) and No. 9 (par 4, 402 yards) holes, his 17th and 18th holes of the day, to secure the league's individual medalist honors. Thomas finished atop the individual leaderboard with a winning score of 8-under par 208 (80-70-68).
Liberty's Ike Joy got to 7-under par with a birdie at No. 16 (par 5, 560 yards). Joy had looks at birdie on No. 17 (par 4, 291 yards) and No. 18 (par 4, 462 yards), including a lip-out on a 20-foot birdie try on 18 that could have forced a playoff. Joy finished as the runner-up with a 7-under par 209 (68-71-70).
Overall, Liberty had three golfers finish the stroke play portion of the championship inside the top 10.
Besides Joy's runner-up finish, Andrew Gregory finished in fifth place with a 5-under par 211 (73-70-68). Josh Ryan finished tied for ninth place with a 2-under par 214 (67-79-68).
Five total players earned spots on the CUSA Men's Golf All-Tournament Team – Aidan Thomas (NM State), Ike Joy (Liberty), Claes Borregaard (Kennesaw State), Hugo Trommetter (Sam Houston) and Andrew Gregory (Liberty).
The No. 1 seed Liberty vs. No. 4 seed UTEP match-up will be send off the No. 1 tee starting at 9 a.m. EST/8 a.m. CST on Thursday. The No. 2 seed Sam Houston vs. No. 3 seed Kennesaw State match will go off the No. 10 tee, starting at the same time.
The victors of the two morning semifinal matches will square off in an afternoon championship round, starting at approximately 2 p.m. EST/1 p.m. CST. The championship match play event will be televised live on ESPN+.
Round Recap – Liberty's Starting Five:
- Ike Joy – 2 7-under par 209 (68-71-70)
- Andrew Gregory – 5 5-under par 211 (73-70-68)
- Josh Ryan – T9 2-under par 214 (67-79-68)
- Michael Lugiano – T16 even par 216 (70-73-73)
- Pascal Gunther – T41 15-over par 231 (72-84-75)
Course Information:
- Texarkana Country Club (Texarkana, Ark.)
- Par 72, 6,969 yards
Following the Flames at the Conference USA Men's Golf Championship:
- Live stats will be available at Scoreboard.clippd.com
- Twitter @LibertyGolf
- Instagram @LibertyGolf
- Semifinal Match Play vs. No. 4 seed UTEP
- Tee Time: Thursday at 9 a.m. EST/8 a.m. CST (No. 1 tee)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
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