UTEP men’s golf comes up short against Liberty in CUSA Championship match

TEXARKANA, Arkansas - No. 1 UTEP, after beating No. 4 Middle Tennessee to advance to its third straight match-play final, came up short against No. 3 Liberty 3-1-1 at the 2026 Conference USA Men’s Golf Championship at Texarkana Country Club (par 72 | 6,969 yards) on Thursday afternoon.

Liberty’s Ike Joy sank a putt on hole 17 to clinch a second CUSA title in three seasons.

UTEP came out of the gates up 2.5-0.5 after Marc Keller and Braden Smith won hole one, and Alexandre Godin and Ike Joy tied after the opening hole.

Liberty’s Michael Lugiano opened with a win at hole one over Dylan Teeter. Josh Ryan birdied hole two to go 1UP on Patrick Foley and tie the match at 2.5-2.5. 

Liberty jumped out to a go-ahead 3-2 edge after Silas Haarer tied Keller, who bogeyed at eight.

Keller had led Haarer 3UP after the first three holes, but Haarer rebounded to tie the match on hole eight and take the go-ahead lead at 12 on a birdy putt.

At one point, the Flames led 4.5-0.5, but Godin birdied hole 12 to take a 1UP lead on Joy and bring the Miners within 4-1. 

Lugiano penciled in the Flames’ first point 5&4 on Teeter. Lugiano commanded the match with birdies at holes one, four, seven, and 12. He added an eagle on two.

Haarer tallied the second point over Keller, 4&2. 

The Miners and Flames met for the third time in three seasons. Last season, No. 4 UTEP upset No. 1 Liberty 3-2 in the semifinals, while in 2024, No. 3 Flames defeated No. 4 Miners to win the CUSA title. 

Following the secured points, the Miners rallied as Foley tied his match at 13 after Ryan was 3UP through nine holes. Foley used back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 to make the count 3.5-1.5. 

Smith recorded a point for the Miners, defeating Luke Libbey 1UP. But Joy made the putt at 17 to beat Godin 2&1 and claim the title. 

SEMIFINALS RECAP

No. 1 UTEP jumped out to a quick lead on No. 4 Middle Tennessee, leading all five pairings at one point on its way to a 4-1 victory. The Blue Raiders got within 3-2 midway through the match, but the Miners stayed in control the rest of the way. 

UTEP clinched the match following Godin’s 4&2 victory over Owen Queener in the fourth match.  Godin and Queener went back and forth. Godin led after hole one, but was behind through seven. Godin tied it at eight and took the go-ahead lead at nine.

Keller started the winning trend with a 1UP win over Oliver Baker. Keller went up on hole two and never looked back, going up by as many as three through 12.

Teeter took match five, 4&3, over Carter Maneth. Teeter dominated from the get-go as the match concluded after 15 holes.

Smith and Foley tied their matches.

No. 3 Liberty defeated No. 2 NM State, 4-1.