The Valparaiso University men’s golf team busted out the clubs for the start of spring competition on Monday at Savannah Harbor Golf Course in Savannah, Ga. Nick Seitz (Xenia, Ohio / Carroll) provided the most compelling storyline of the day, as he led the Crusaders in his return after missing the entire fall with a back injury.

How It Happened

• Seitz carded a team-best 75 over the first 18 holes of his return to the course. He continued a strong day by making a one-stroke improvement in Round 2. Seitz’s two-round score of 149 (+5) is tied for 34^th overall.
• Mitchell Wittmann (Kaukauna, Wis. / Kaukauna) bounced back from a wobbly first round with a quality performance in the second. He stroked an 81 in the first 18, then carded a 74 in Round 2. Wittmann’s two-round score of 155 (+11) put him in 56^th place.
• Peter Webb (Madison, Wis. / James Madison Memorial) also made improvement from one round to the next, following his Round 1 score of 80 with a 79 in Round 2. Webb is currently in 68^th at 159 (+15).
• Zach Cutler (O’Fallon, Mo. / Timberland) and Ross Lazar (Okemos, Mich. / Okemos) had identical days, as both posted an 82 in Round 1 and an 83 in Round 2. They are tied for 75^th overall at 165 (+21).

Inside the Rounds

• The Crusaders sit in 13^th of 14 in the team standings with a score of 628 (+52). They made an eight-stroke improvement from Round 1 (318) to Round 2 (310).
• Valpo is two strokes ahead of Brown for 13^th and 17 strokes in back of Florida A&M for 12^th.
• William & Mary leads the event with a 567 (-9), while Belmont is second at 574 (-2).
• The Crusaders had 15 birdies on the day.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

"When we make the transition from our fall to our spring season, we typically have some rust to knock off, with four months of no competition. While the guys have worked diligently this off-season, we struggled as a team with both consistency and in our short games."

"We have never played a tournament in the month of February, so it felt great to get our spring season underway and start playing against some good competition on a quality golf course. We had some positives to take away from the 36 holes today and we can start building on those as we compete in seven events this spring."

"Nick had played one tournament for us in the past sixteen months, so it was terrific to have him back in the lineup and providing some consistent scoring for our team.  He has worked very diligently in recovering from his back injury and he stepped right up to the challenge of walking and playing 36 holes for us today."

Up Next

The third round of the event will be played on Tuesday in Savannah, Ga. A link to live stats is available on ValpoAthletics.com.