The Valparaiso University men’s golf team is in position to compete for the team title at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate entering Tuesday’s final round after a strong opening day of competition on Monday at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield, Mo. Valpo enters the final day in third of 18 on a tight team leaderboard with a team score of 574 (+6), just three strokes off the team lead.

How It Happened

• Valpo enters the final day of competition one stroke behind second-place Wichita State (+5) and three strokes ahead of a fourth-place tie between Drake and SIUE (+9). The Brown & Gold are just three shots off the team lead, held by Loyola at +3. Valpo finished 36 holes on Monday, but several teams in the field will finish the second round on Tuesday morning after play was halted due to darkness at the par-71, 6760-yard course.
• Sophomore Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) enters Tuesday very much in the mix for medalist honors, tied for second in the 108-player field. His score of 138 (-4) through 36 holes is even with South Dakota’s Matt Tolan and two strokes behind Loyola’s Devin Johnson for the top spot.
• Garrett Willis (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead) and Brett Seward (Aurora, Ill. / Aurora Christian) both finished Day 1 at 145 (+3), tied for 24^th in the field.
• Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood) checked in at t-32 with a 146 (+4) to provide Valpo’s fourth countable score. He is tied with teammate Jack Juskow (Greenville, S.C. / Hamilton Southeastern), who is golfing as an individual. Bonn shot an even par of 71 in Round 2, the team’s second-best score of the round behind VanArragon.  

Inside the Rounds

• VanArragon went 68-70 on Monday, equaling his 18-hole career best in the opening round. In fact, the 68 (-3) in Round 1 matched his second-round mark from the Lewis Flyer Intercollegiate for the best round by any Valpo individual this season.
• The team finished at 287 (+3) in each of the tournament’s first two rounds. That score was two strokes away from the team’s best this season, a 285 in the second round of the Lewis Flyer Intercollegiate in September.  
• Bonn tied his best round of the season with a 71 in Round 2, while Seward posted a 71 in Round 1 to establish a new season best.
• Valpo is shooting 4.72 on Par 5 holes, third in the 18-team field. The Brown & Gold have 26 birdies and 112 pars, tied for the second most in the field in the latter category.
• VanArragon is shooting even on Par-3 holes, tied with six others for the tournament lead in that area. He is at 4.38 on Par 5s, tied for third.
• VanArragon’s eight birdies rank tied for fourth among all competitors, while Willis is tied for fifth with 25 pars.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“We got off to a slow start in both of our rounds today. With our start on the Back 9, the most challenging stretch of the course is Holes 15-18. We played those four holes at nine over in each of the first two rounds, and we knew that we needed to play them better. The guys stayed patient and bounced back very well on the back nine. We played the last five holes in our first round at five under, and we played the last five holes at six under in the second round. We’re constantly talking about finishing our rounds well, and the guys really played terrific down the home stretch of both rounds.”

“We struggled again today on the Par 3s. We still need to play them much better. Our Par 5 scoring improved in both rounds today, but we still need to take more advantage of those scoring opportunities. We only had a couple double bogeys in the first round, and we didn’t have any in the second round, which we continue to emphasize in each tournament. We had some wind as a factor today and the guys really managed that well both off the tee and with their approach shots.”

“Caleb’s ball-striking was the best that I have seen it this spring. He really hit a lot of good approach shots into the green and his accuracy off the tee was exemplary. He controlled his ball flight very well in the wind, keeping the ball low and not having it spin much on the green.  Caleb didn’t miss many greens in regulation. When he did, he didn’t short-side himself and his chipping was terrific.”

“While we have some rain and windy weather conditions that we are going to have to deal with tomorrow, the guys are excited to compete for another tournament title in the final round.”

Up Next

Valpo will close out the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate with the final 18 holes on Tuesday. A link to live scoring via BirdieFire is available on ValpoAthletics.com.