Flames golf finishes 10th out of 13 at UVA

The Liberty University men’s golf team competed in the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia April 8-9.

The Flames finished 10th out of 13 teams, shooting 17-over-par and marking their sixth top 10 finish in nine tournaments this season. The Flames were led by junior Brett Reid and graduate Isaac Simmons, who both finished in the top 20. Reid and Simmons both ended 1-over-par and with an overall score of 214.

“(Simmons) is starting to play better, so we’re excited for him,” Head Coach Jeff Thomas said. “He hadn’t been playing well this spring, but he’s trending in the right direction, so that’s exciting to see.”

Sophomore Josh Ryan finished two shots behind, shooting 3-over-par and landing just outside of the top 20 at 27th. The result marks the first time this season that Ryan hasn’t been Liberty’s top finisher in a tournament.  The team as a whole shot 17-over-par with a score of 869.

“The guys played well,” Thomas said. “I think we’re trending in the right direction heading into the last few events and heading into the conference championship.”

The No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers won the team title, shooting an 825 and winning by 12 strokes to the sixth-ranked Florida State, which shot 837.

The Flames will take to the course next in the Mossy Oak Collegiate Championship in West Point, Mississippi April 15-16. This will be their last tournament before heading to the conference championship.

“I think we’re doing good,” Thomas said. “We need to keep working on our ball striking, and we need to putt a little bit better.”

The Flames look to keep improving as they head into the final stretch of their spring season and hope to hoist the CUSA trophy just as they did last year in the ASUN.

Stacy is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion