Monday, February 2
Atlantic Beach, Fla.
Liberty University
at
Sea Best Invitational
Flames Kick Off the Spring Season at Sea Best Invitational
1/31/2026 2:44:00 PM | Men's Golf
Following a three-month break in its season, Liberty is set to return to a familiar event on its schedule that is playing at a new venue in 2026.
Monday, Liberty will kick off the spring portion of its 2025-26 season when the Flames begin play at the 2026 Sea Best Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville.
This year, the event will be contested at the Atlantic Beach Country Club (par 71, 6,868 yards) in Atlantic Beach, Fla.
This year's venue is roughly 11 miles north from where this early season staple of collegiate golf has been hosted.
Previously, the event had been hosted at the famed TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home to The Players Championship on the PGA Tour, and its sister course the TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course.
The Flames have participated in this event 14 of the last 16 seasons, posting 12 top-five finishes in this event.
This year's tournament features a 15-team field, including nine teams who enter the spring season ranked inside the top 100 in the country: Florida (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 34), Florida State (No. 39), FGCU (No. 51), UNCW (No. 64), FAU (No. 81), Liberty (No. 84), Kennesaw State (No. 92) and North Alabama (No. 97).
Liberty will get an early spring season look at a pair of Conference USA teams at this event as Kennesaw State and LA Tech are part of the 15-team field.
Play gets underway on Monday morning at 8 a.m. The first day of competition will feature 36 holes of continuous play. The tournament will conclude with a final 18 holes on Tuesday.
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2025-26 Stroke Average)
Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at the Sea Best Invitational:
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
Looking at the Latest Rankings (Scoreboard by Clippd – as of Jan. 28, 2026):
Florida (No. 5)
Texas A&M (No. 34)
Florida State (No. 39)
FGCU (No. 51)
UNCW (No. 64)
FAU (No. 81)
Liberty (No. 84)
Kennesaw State (No. 92)
North Alabama (No. 97)
Lipscomb (No. 120)
UCF (No. 135)
North Florida (No. 142)
Jacksonville (No. 169)
LA Tech (No. 182)
USC – Upstate (No. 234)
Course Information:
Following the Flames at Sea Best Invitational:
Monday, Liberty will kick off the spring portion of its 2025-26 season when the Flames begin play at the 2026 Sea Best Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville.
This year, the event will be contested at the Atlantic Beach Country Club (par 71, 6,868 yards) in Atlantic Beach, Fla.
This year's venue is roughly 11 miles north from where this early season staple of collegiate golf has been hosted.
Previously, the event had been hosted at the famed TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home to The Players Championship on the PGA Tour, and its sister course the TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course.
The Flames have participated in this event 14 of the last 16 seasons, posting 12 top-five finishes in this event.
This year's tournament features a 15-team field, including nine teams who enter the spring season ranked inside the top 100 in the country: Florida (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 34), Florida State (No. 39), FGCU (No. 51), UNCW (No. 64), FAU (No. 81), Liberty (No. 84), Kennesaw State (No. 92) and North Alabama (No. 97).
Liberty will get an early spring season look at a pair of Conference USA teams at this event as Kennesaw State and LA Tech are part of the 15-team field.
Play gets underway on Monday morning at 8 a.m. The first day of competition will feature 36 holes of continuous play. The tournament will conclude with a final 18 holes on Tuesday.
Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2025-26 Stroke Average)
- Michael Lugiano (70.58)
- Josh Ryan (70.67)
- Ike Joy (72.83)
- Andrew Gregory (73.50)
- Evan Barbin (75.67)
- Individual: Brett Reid (N/A)
Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at the Sea Best Invitational:
- Liberty has participated in this event 14 out of the last 16 years, posting 12 top-five finishes.
- The first four times Liberty participated in this event, the tournament was hosted at the TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course (2010-12 and 2014).
- The last 10 times Liberty participated in this event, the tournament was played at the TPC Sawgrass – Dye's Valley Course (2015-24).
- During the 2024 event, Liberty finished in 11th place out of 15 teams, carding a 39-over par 879 (293-294-292).
- Three players in Liberty's lineup for this year's event played in the 2024 tournament.
- Josh Ryan paced the Flames as he finished tied for 21st place with a 6-over par 216 (72-73-71).
- Evan Barbin finished tied for 39th place with a 10-over par 220 (75-72-73) and Ike Joy finished tied for 55th place with a 13-over par 223 (69-76-78).
From the 18th Green – Recapping Liberty's Last Time Out:
- The Flames will have 105 days between competitive rounds when they hit the course on Monday for the first round of the 2026 Sea Best Invitational.
- Liberty was last on the course on Oct. 19-20 for the Quail Valley Collegiate, an event posted by USF at the Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach, Fla.
- Liberty finished the event in eighth place out of 16 teams, carding a 15-under par 949 (279-273-297).
- Michael Lugiano led the way for the Flames at the event, recording a fourth-place finish by carding an 11-under par 205 (68-67-70).
- The score marked the sophomore's lowest 54-hole career total after he ranked second in the field in birdies (20) and tied for fifth in par-4 scoring (-4/3.87 average).
- Following the event, Lugiano was named the final CUSA Men's Golfer of the Week for the fall tournament season.
- Josh Ryan also posted a top-20 finish in the event, carding a 7-under par 209 (66-66-77) to finish in 15th place.
Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:
- Liberty enters the spring season ranked No. 84 in the first Scoreboard by Clippd national rankings of the calendar year.
- Michael Lugiano finished the fall season as Liberty's top individually ranked golfer (No. 208) followed by Josh Ryan (No. 232) and Silas Haarer (No. 517).
- Liberty begins the spring season as the second-highest ranked team in Conference USA: UTEP (No. 74), Liberty (No. 84), Kennesaw State (No. 92), Jax State (No. 130), New Mexico State (No. 143), Sam Houston (No. 149), WKU (No. 147), Delaware (No. 151), MTSU (No. 165), LA Tech (No. 182) and Missouri State (No. 290).
- Liberty's birdie leaders at the end of the fall season: Josh Ryan (54), Michael Lugiano (48), Silas Haarer (37), Ike Joy (34) and Andrew Gregory (18).
- Liberty's par leaders at the end of the fall season: Ike Joy (142), Silas Haarer (139), Michael Lugiano (132), Josh Ryan (125) and Luke Libbey (74).
- Liberty finished the fall season with a 285.42 team scoring average and a 28-24-0 win-loss record.
- After missing NCAA Regional play last year for the first time as a team since 2015, Liberty is looking to return to postseason play in 2026.
- Prior to the 2024-25 season, Liberty had qualified for eight-straight NCAA Regionals as a team and 12 of the last 14 NCAA Regional events (2011-14, 2016-24/no Regionals contested in 2020).
- Last year, Liberty's Ike Joy individually qualified for the NCAA Regional play, giving the Flames a representative at NCAA Regional play each year since 2009 (four years with individual appearances and 12 team appearances).
Looking at the Latest Rankings (Scoreboard by Clippd – as of Jan. 28, 2026):
Florida (No. 5)
Texas A&M (No. 34)
Florida State (No. 39)
FGCU (No. 51)
UNCW (No. 64)
FAU (No. 81)
Liberty (No. 84)
Kennesaw State (No. 92)
North Alabama (No. 97)
Lipscomb (No. 120)
UCF (No. 135)
North Florida (No. 142)
Jacksonville (No. 169)
LA Tech (No. 182)
USC – Upstate (No. 234)
Course Information:
- Atlantic Beach Country Club (Atlantic Beach, Fla.)
- Par 71, 6,868 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)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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