Liberty University claimed the 2026 Conference USA Men’s Golf Championship title on April 30, following strong performances in both stroke play and match play at Texarkana Country Club.
The victory marks Liberty’s second CUSA championship in three years and secures its ninth NCAA Division I conference title. With this win, Liberty also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional tournament.
In the semifinal round Thursday morning, Liberty defeated New Mexico State with a decisive 4-1 score. Senior Ike Joy led with a 5&4 win over Max Chan, while freshman Silas Haarer added a 4&3 victory against Mateo Payan. Sophomore Michael Lugiano contributed by beating Javier Delgadillo 3&2. In the afternoon championship session, Liberty faced top-seeded UTEP and secured a 3.5-1.5 win. Lugiano posted another convincing result with a 5&4 win over Dylan Teeter, and Haarer followed with a key birdie putt to clinch his match against Marc Keller at 4&2.
The Flames have advanced to NCAA Regional play nine out of the last ten seasons and fifteen times overall in program history. The team will learn its regional assignment on May 6 during an announcement broadcast on Golf Channel at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
NCAA Regional tournaments are scheduled for May 18-20 across six sites nationwide, each hosting between thirteen and fourteen teams along with individual qualifiers.
The competition between Liberty and UTEP has become familiar; they met for the championship in both of the previous two years—Liberty won in their last meeting for the title in 2024 while UTEP prevailed during semifinals in 2025.
Looking ahead, Liberty aims to continue its postseason success as it prepares for regional competition later this month.
