Liberty Closes Out Florida Swing at The Hayt

The Flames will play their third and final event in the "Sunshine State" to open the spring portion of the schedule this weekend at The Hayt.

The three-day event, which starts on Saturday, is hosted by North Florida at the Sawgrass Country Club (par 72, 6,966 yards) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

The Hayt, now in its 34^th year of competition, has consistently featured one of the strongest fields during the early part of the spring collegiate golf season.

This year's field is no different, as the 16-team field features eight top-25 ranked teams: Virginia (No. 1), Auburn (No. 2), LSU (No. 6), Texas Tech (No. 11), Alabama (No. 15), North Carolina (No. 17), Duke (No. 20) and Charlotte (No. 21).

Play gets underway on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. with 18 holes of play, followed by the same format on Sunday and Monday. Liberty will tee off at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, as part of the first groups to start on the back nine at the No. 10 hole (par 4, 407 yards).

Now on The Tee – Liberty's Starting Five (2025-26 Stroke Average)

Michael Lugiano (70.29)
Josh Ryan (71.24)
Ike Joy (72.71)
Evan Barbin (74.18)
Silas Haarer (72.71)

Tournament Reflections – Previous Showing at The Hayt:

Liberty has played in The Hayt eight previous times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025).
The Flames finished in 14^th place in 2024, carding a 24-over par 888 (291-289-308).
The Flames' best finish at this event was a third-place showing in 2018 when Liberty carded a 3-under par 861 (291-281-289).
Texas, who was ranked No. 4 in the country at the time of the event, won the event with an 18-under par 846 (290-274-282).
Texas finished seven shots clear of No. 28 Duke, who posted a runner-up score of 11-under par 853 (283-280-290).
Liberty's top golfer in the event was Ike Joy, who individually finished tied for sixth place with a 4-under par 212 (72-69-71).

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

Liberty finished in seventh place at the Gator Invitational, Feb. 14-15, carding a 19-over par 859 (289-280-290) at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (par 70, 6,701 yards) in Gainesville, Fla.
The only teams to finish ahead of Liberty were five top-25 teams and USF, who also hails from the "Sunshine State".
Florida posted a winning score of 27-under par 813 (271-266-276) on its home golf course.
The Gators finished 14 shots clear of No. 2 Auburn, who was the event's runner-up with a score of 13-under par 827 (269-273-285).
For the third event in a row, Michael Lugiano paced the Flames. The sophomore finished tied for 12th place with a 1-under par 209 (71-68-70).
Lugiano's strength in this event was his strong play on the par-4 holes. He led the 99-man field in par-4 scoring (3.90 scoring average/-3) and was tied for fifth place with 12 birdies.
Ike Joy followed behind Lugiano, finishing tied for 40th place with a 5-over par 215 (71-70-74). The graduate student finished tied for fifth in the field with 38 pars over the 54-hole event.

Birdies and Bogeys – Liberty Team Notes:

Liberty enters its second tournament of the spring season ranked No. 81 in the latest Scoreboard by Clippd national rankings.
Michael Lugiano is Liberty's top-ranked individual golfer as the sophomore is ranked No. 137 in the country.
Lugiano is followed in the rankings by Josh Ryan (No. 288), Andrew Greogry (No. 593) and Ike Joy (No. 606).
Liberty enters this weekend's tournament as the second-best ranked team in Conference USA: UTEP (No. 77), Liberty (No. 81), Kennesaw State (No. 97), Jax State (No. 128), New Mexico State (No. 133), Sam Houston (No. 148), LA Tech (No. 149), Middle Tennessee (No. 153), WKU (No. 156), Delaware (No. 160) and Missouri State (No. 284).
Liberty's current birdie leaders: Josh Ryan (70), Michael Lugiano (70), Silas Haarer (49), Ike Joy (46) and Evan Barbin (32).
Liberty's current par leaders: Ike Joy (199), Silas Haarer (195), Michael Lugiano (185), Josh Ryan (176) and Luke Libbey (127).
Flames with eagles during the 2025-26 season: Michael Lugiano (1), Josh Ryan (1), Evan Barbin (1) and Silas Hareer (1)
Liberty currently holds a 47-35-0 record (57.32 percent) during the 2025-26 season with a 285.71 team stroke average.
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 March 4, 2026):
Alabama (No. 15)
Auburn (No. 2)
Charlotte (No. 21)
Clemson (No. 40)
Coastal Carolina (No. 98)
Duke (No. 20)
Liberty (No. 81)
Louisville (No. 31)
LSU (No. 6)
North Carolina (No. 17)
North Florida (No. 141)
South Carolina (No. 49)
Texas Tech (No. 11)
UCF (No. 101)
USF (No. 54)
Virginia (No. 1)

Course Information:

Sawgrass Country Club (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
Par 72, 6,966 yards

Following the Flames at The Hayt:

Live stats will be available at Scoreboard.Clippd.com
Twitter @LibertyGolf
Instagram @LibertyGolf
Round 1 Tee Time: Saturday – 7:30 a.m. (Hole 10)

Schedule

Liberty Closes Out Florida Swing at The Hayt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Barbin

Silas Haarer

Ike Joy

Luke Libbey

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

Liberty Closes Out Florida Swing at The Hayt

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Barbin

Silas Haarer

Ike Joy

Luke Libbey

Michael Lugiano

Josh Ryan

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