The Valparaiso University men’s golf team competed in the first round of the Dayton Flyer Invitational in Kettering, Ohio at NCR Country Club on Monday. Redshirt junior Adam Baracani (Normal, Ill. / University) and senior Peter Webb (Madison, Wis. / James Madison Memorial) tied for the team lead on the first day of the two-round event.

How It Happened

• After 18 holes, the Crusaders have a team score of 315, 18^th in the 18-team field. However, they are just five strokes back of 13^th and one stroke behind 17^th. As a team, the Crusaders were 31 strokes over par.
• Webb and Baracani each stroked a 75 during the round, four strokes above par. They are tied for 24^th individually.
• Freshman Matthew McCarthy (O’Fallon, Ill. / Althoff Catholic), competing as an individual, went six strokes over par with a 77. He is tied for 39^th overall and third on the team.
• Freshman Ross Lazar (Okemos, Mich. / Okemos) finished at 80 (+9), fourth on the team and tied for 76^th overall.
• Zach Cutler (O’Fallon, Mo. / Timberland) carded an 85 (+14), while Mitchell Wittmann (Kaukauna, Wis. / Kaukauna) turned in an 86 (+15).

Inside the Rounds

• Baracani’s 75 is his lowest round of the season. His previous low was 77.
• Webb had a strong front nine, reaching the midway point at one stroke under par.
• McCarthy also started his day on a high note, meeting par on the front nine.
• The Crusaders had five birdies as a team, three of them by Webb.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

"NCR is a challenging golf course and it beat us up today. The course was in terrific shape and the greens were fast and firm. It is imperative to hit to certain areas/targets on the putting surface and certain sides of the green and we simply left ourselves in some difficult places to score from."

"Unfortunately, the shot execution simply wasn't there, today.  We had a good game plan and the guys knew how to play each hole, but we struggled with accuracy both off the tee and to the greens."

"We didn't get the start that we wanted through the first one-third of the round, and when we played the difficult stretch of holes 12-16 poorly, we had our backs against the wall.  The guys kept battling throughout the round and I'm grateful for the efforts."

Up Next

The Crusaders will return to the course on Tuesday for Day 2 of the Dayton Flyer Invitational at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio. A link to live stats is available on ValpoAthletics.com.