The Valparaiso University men’s golf team is 18 holes away from closing out a commendable fall season with perhaps its most significant achievement yet. The Beacons hold a slim edge atop the team leaderboard at the Iowa Fall Classic, which began with two rounds on Sunday in chilly and windy conditions at the par-72, 7141-yard Blue Top Ridge in Riverside, Iowa. A strong first round helped head coach Dave Gring’s team finish the day with a one-stroke lead on the host Hawkeyes, a member of the Big Ten Conference.  

How It Happened

• Valpo completed the first round with a seven-stroke lead on Iowa for the top spot in a nine-team field. A balanced team effort saw the Beacons post a score of 287 in Round 1, but that was followed by a 308 in Round 2 that allowed the Hawkeyes to make up six strokes to cut the deficit to one.
• Valpo holds a 12-stroke lead on third-place UNI and leads the four Missouri Valley Conference teams in the tournament as defending MVC champion Southern Illinois is fourth and Drake is seventh.
• Fifth-year senior Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) paced the team on the first day of the event and is in second place in a 50-player field. He got the tournament going with a 69 (-3) in Round 1 before finishing the day at 144 (E) after a 75 (+3) in Round 2. He is two strokes behind Iowa’s Mac McClear in the battle for medalist honors.
• Kostouros leads a trio of Beacons in the top 10 as usual suspects Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) and Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) are also part of that collection. Delisanti is tied for seventh at 149 (+5), while VanArragon is at t-10 at 150 (+6).
• Sophomore Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) boasted an impressive score of 73 (+1) in the opening round to rank third on the team at the day’s midway point before finishing the 36 holes at 154, tied for 21^st on the player leaderboard.

Inside the Rounds

• Valpo holds a tournament-best par-4 scoring average of 4.19. The Beacons are second in the field on par-3 holes at 3.18. Kostouros is tied for the tournament’s best par-4 scoring average at 4.00.
• Valpo has a tournament-most 107 holes at exactly par, led by VanArragon (26) and Kostourous (25), who are the top two individuals in the tournament in that category.
• The Beacons are tied for the third most birdies in the event with 23, led by Delisanti with seven.
• Delisanti also accounted for one of three eagles on the tournament’s opening day. He eagled the par-4 third hole in Round 2.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“Playing 36 holes today was a real test of patience, perseverance and character. We knew the weather was going to be a factor and get worse as the day progressed. We started with temps in the 30s at the start of the tournament, and the day ended with steady 20 mph winds and wind chills in the low 40s. Add to that the excellent green complexes on the course and the necessity to ‘hit to zones’ on the putting greens, and it made for a challenging day. The second rounds scores for the entire field were two shots per round higher than the first round, which is significant.”

“I felt that the first 30 holes today were some of the best golf that we have played this fall. All of the guys were methodical in figuring their yardages into greens, decisive with their club selections and they made solid, aggressive swings. The results were shots on-target and missing to the correct side of the hole. We had an excellent start to our rounds, making some quality birdies on the front nine. Each nine of the first 27 holes found us just over par as a team.  Unfortunately, that shifted in our last six holes, when conditions were very challenging and we played those holes 16 over par to finish the day.”

“Yianni played really steady for us today. His shots off the tee were exceptional, and he played with a lot of confidence throughout both rounds. He played with a lot of poise and made a lot of good decisions in managing the golf course. As we shift to tomorrow, our rounds are going to be all about character and how we manage our mental game and handle the inclement weather conditions that will even be worse than today. It’s going to be even more of a grind than today, but the guys are excited for the challenge and we will be ready to get after it.”

Up Next

The fall season will conclude on Monday, the final day of the Iowa Fall Classic. A link to live scoring is available on ValpoAthletics.com.