Fifth-year senior Brad Winters (Elgin, Ill/St. Edward [Dayton]) fired an opening round 74 (2-over par) on Saturday to pace the Valparaiso men’s golf team on day one of the Wolfpack Spring Open at Lonnie Poole GG in Raleigh, NC.

The Crusaders posted a team score of 310, and they are in 11^th place after the first of two rounds.

Winters made three birdies on his round and is in a tie for 19^th place after 18 holes.

“Brad hit the ball solid today, hitting a lot of greens in regulation,” said Valparaiso head coach David Gring.

Junior Kyle Henning (Brookfield, Wis./East) made two birdies on the day and finished with a round of 75, which has him in a tie for 30^th.

Junior Thomas Wettstein (Neenah, Wis./Xavier) and senior Andy Webb (Bedford, Ind./North Lawrence) each posted rounds of 78 to be in a tie for 50^th.

“We struggled on the greens today with our putting,” Gring said. “The ball striking was sufficient, but we could get any low scoring going today.”

Senior Austin Gaugert (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger) finished with a round of 79, while senior Josh Kalita (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) added a round of 80.

‘We are looking forward to more terrific weather tomorrow and a strong finish to a good tournament field and course,” Gring said.

Valparaiso concludes the 36-hole tournament with the final 18 holes on Sunday afternoon.