After a strong fall season, the Valparaiso University men’s golf team teed off the spring slate on Sunday by competing in the first round of the three-day, 54-hole Advance Golf Partners Collegiate at the par-72, 7169-yard Hammock Creek Golf Club in Palm City, Fla. The top score by a Beacon came from Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), who is competing as an individual.

How It Happened

• Sander is tied for 16^th in a massive 119-player field after turning in a 73 (+1) on the event’s opening day.
• The top score from the Valpo lineup came courtesy of Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield), who carded a 77 and is tied for 56^th. The team’s other three counting scores were all 78s.
• Valpo stroked a 311 as a team and is in 17^th place in a 19-team field after a rare rough round for a high-quality program. The Beacons are 14 strokes ahead of Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley.
• Butler leads the tournament at 288, while Drexel’s Drue Nicholas holds the top spot individually after posting a 66.

Inside the Round

• Valpo’s strengths were par-4 scoring (4.22) and par-5 scoring (4.85), but the par 3s were a different story, with the Beacons last in the field at 4.10 on those holes.
• The team had nine birdies, led by Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) and Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) with three apiece.
• Sander’s score tied a personal best for the Valpo freshman.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“Today’s rounds had three primary areas that we will be working on and improving for our next two rounds on Monday and Tuesday. First, our putting was very poor. We struggled with the speed of our putts, along with making our four to six-foot putts. Second, our Par-3 scoring was terrible. We played the Par 3s at +16, which is where we lost the majority of our shots to the field. Lastly, we still had too many double and triple bogeys that we need to eliminate to score better.”

“This was our first round of a long spring season and we were rusty coming off four months of no competition – it showed today. The guys have worked hard with our practices this winter, so I’m not concerned and I’m confident that we can bounce back with better rounds over the next two days.”

“Owen Sander played very solid for us today. He hit 16 greens in regulation, which is a terrific accomplishment in the 20-25 mph winds that we dealt with all day. His course management was excellent and the round was really good for his confidence.”

Up Next

The tournament will continue on Monday with Round 2 of the three-round event. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.