The Valparaiso University men’s golf team faced off with DePaul in match play on Monday in the Demons vs. Beacons Challenge, a 27-hole event at Prairie Bluff Golf Course in Crest Hill, Ill. The unique event served to foster friendship, sportsmanship and competition between the two programs.

How It Happened

• The first nine holes of the day were four-ball matches. The Valpo tandem of Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) and Grant Norman (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Blackhawk) won their match, while the Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood) / Padraic Sim (Spanish Fort, Ala. / Spanish Fort [Oregon]) and Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) / Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) combos both halved their matches. The Beacons and Blue Demons were tied 2-2 through the four-ball matches.
• The next nine holes were foursome matches. The VanArragon/Sander duo picked up a victory, while the Bonn/Sim team halved. However, DePaul won the other two matches to take the foursome portion 2.5-1.5 and grab a 4.5-3.5 lead in the match.
• The final nine holes were singles matches with eight showdowns taking place. Each team earned four victories in singles with Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), VanArragon, Sander and Bonn all picking up wins for the Beacons.  
• DePaul prevailed in the total team score by a slim margin of 8.5-7.5.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“This was the first head-to-head competition that we have had with DePaul, featuring just the two of our teams. We had a terrific day to enjoy some quality match play competition, and the Prairie Bluff Golf Course was in excellent shape for this time of the year. The entire 27-hole event was competitive within all three formats throughout the entire day. Congrats to DePaul for winning the tightly-contested event.”

“We saw a lot of birdies from the Kostouros/Booth team in their four-ball match, with them shooting five under and still losing the match. The VanArragon/Sander team got a birdie from Owen on the final hole to halve their match. The Delisanti/Norman team had a solid victory, collecting their point after shooting three under. The Bonn/Sim match was back and forth the entire nine holes, with our guys shooting four under on the front nine and halving the match.”

“In the foursomes matches, the Kostouros/Booth team again had a good amount of birdies, shooting three under, but it still wasn’t enough to beat their opponents, who shot four under.  The alternate shot format is very challenging, and we were able to pick up a full point from the VanArragon/Sander team and a half point from the Bonn/Sim team. The Bonn/Sim team rallied from three down with three to play to halve their match.”

“The singles matches were tightly contested with Booth, Bonn, Sander and VanArragon winning by narrow margins. We didn’t quite have enough in the tank to finish the last four singles matches, losing three out of those four. The VanArragon/Sander team played the best for us today, adding a total of 1.5 points in the first two formats and winning their singles matches.  Mason Bonn added two points on the day, halving the first two matches and winning his singles match. Despite the team loss, this was a great event for all of our players and there were a lot of quality shots and good golf being played the entire day.”

Up Next

Valpo will return to stroke play this weekend by heading to Bloomington, Ind. to compete in the Hoosier Collegiate at Pfau Course. The event will get underway on Saturday. A link to live scoring will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.