Flames Begin Busy April Schedule at Mason Rudolph Championship

The Flames will kick off their busiest month of the season when they travel to the "Music City" area for this weekend's Mason Rudolph Championship.

Starting on Friday, Liberty will make a return appearance at the Vanderbilt-hosted tournament. The three-day, 54-hole event will be contested at the Vanderbilt Legends Club (par 71, 7,112 yards) in Franklin, Tenn.

The tournament is the first of three events on Liberty's April schedule. The Flames will play their final regular season tournament, April 14-15, at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial in Charlottesville, Va.

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 Mason Rudolph Championship will pit the Flames against some of the top teams in the SEC, along with an early look at a Conference USA foe.

The 14-team field features six top-50 ranked programs: Auburn (No. 2), Ole Miss (No. 3), Vanderbilt (No. 18), Colorado (No. 27), Mississippi State (No. 31) and Charlotte (No. 43).

The event will also give Liberty a look at Middle Tennessee (No. 117), who enters the tournament ranked just behind Liberty (No. 110).

Play gets underway on Friday morning at 8 a.m. CST/9 a.m. EST with teams heading off the No. 1 tee at 11-minute intervals.

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

Ike Joy (70.87)
Josh Ryan (72.73)
Michael Lugiano (73.11)
Andrew Gregory (73:72)
Evan Barbin (74.16)
Individual: Pascal Gunther (73.93)

Tournament Reflections – Liberty's Last Showing at the Mason Rudolph Championship:

Liberty has participated in this event seven previous times, including consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2019, along with showings in 2022 and 2023.
Liberty has finished in third place or better three times in this event (2018 – third; 2019 – second; 2022 – second).
A record-setting performance by Liberty led the Flames to a second-place finish at the 2022 Mason Rudolph Championship.
The Flames carded a then program-best 54-hole total score of 37-under par 815 (277-271-267) at Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Liberty finished in seventh place in its last showing at this event in 2023, carding a 4-over par 856 (287-287-282).
Jonathan Yaun (72-72-68) and Austin Barbin (73-68-71) paced Liberty by finishing tied for 18^th place with a 1-under par 212.
During his freshman season with the Flames, Josh Ryan finished this event tied for 51^st place with a 6-over par 219 (72-73-74).

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

The Flames are coming off a 15^th-place finish at General Hackler Championship (March 16-18).
Liberty carded a 20-over par 884 (290-302-292) at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club (par 72, 7,233 yards) in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Auburn, who was then ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, posted its second win in a row, carding a 33-under par 831 (278-284-269).
The Tigers won the event by a 17-stroke margin.
No. 39 Louisville took second place with a 16-under par 848 (289-282-277), while No. 19 Duke finished in third place with a 14-under par 850 (281-290-279).
Ike Joy paced the Flames in their fourth team event in a row, finishing tied for 42^nd place with a 4-over par 220 (71-77-72).
Josh Ryan (75-73-74) and Michael Lugiano (70-74-78) were two shots behind Joy, finishing in a tie for 48^th place with a 6-over par 222.

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:

The Flames enter this weekend's tournament ranked No. 110 in the latest national rankings (Scoreboard Powered by Clippd rankings as of April 2).
Liberty currently ranks fifth in Conference USA in the latest national rankings: New Mexico State (No. 63), Kennesaw State (No. 69), Sam Houston (No. 74), UTEP (No. 101), Liberty No. 110), Middle Tennessee (No. 117), Louisiana Tech (No. 118), Jacksonville State (No. 130) and Western Kentucky (No. 175).
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.
Ike Joy is currently the second-ranked golfer in Conference USA. He is ranked No. 133 in the last national rankings, behind Kennesaw State's Claes Borregaard (No. 91).
Michael Lugiano currently leads the Flames with 61 birdies, followed by Ike Joy (52), Pascal Gunther (43) and Evan Barbin (39).
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 2)
Auburn (No. 2)
Ball State (No. 157)
Charlotte (No. 43)
Colorado (No. 27)
Kentucky (No. 83)
Liberty (No. 110)
Middle Tennessee (No. 117)
Mississippi State (No. 31)
Ole Miss (No. 3)
Penn State (No. 146)
Princeton (No. 72)
Toledo (No. 128)
Vanderbilt (No. 18)
Wisconsin (No. 113)

Course Information:

Vanderbilt Legends Club (Franklin, Tenn.)
Par 71, 7,112 yards

Following the Flames at the Mason Rudolph Championship:

Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com
Twitter @LibertyGolf
Instagram @LibertyGolf
Round 1 Tee Time: Friday at 9 a.m./EST (No. 1 tee)

Schedule

Flames Begin Busy April Schedule at Mason Rudolph Championship

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austin Barbin

Evan Barbin

Andrew Gregory

Pascal Gunther

Ike Joy

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

Flames Begin Busy April Schedule at Mason Rudolph Championship

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austin Barbin

Evan Barbin

Andrew Gregory

Pascal Gunther

Ike Joy

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

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