The Valparaiso University men’s golf team turned in a solid opening day at the Hoosier Collegiate, ranking tied for fourth in a competitive, 14-team field in the Easter Weekend event, which is being hosted by Indiana at the challenging par-71, 7265-yard Pfau Course in Bloomington. Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) is once again well positioned for a top-10 finish.

How It Happened

• VanArragon carded even par in the opening round and followed with a 75 in Round 2 to finish the day with a 36-hole score of 146. He is seventh in a 46-player field with 18 holes to play.
• The second-best Beacon on Saturday was Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield), who turned in a 74 followed by a 75 to finish the day at 149, tied for 14^th.
• Valpo also received a quality day from Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood), who stroked a 75 in both rounds to finish Saturday at 150 (t-22). Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) was one stroke behind Bonn at 151 (t-26).
• As a team, Valpo finished the day at 596 (296-300, +28), tied for fourth of 14 teams. The Beacons are tied with Dayton and are one stroke in back of Missouri Valley Conference foe Illinois State for third. The host Hoosiers are second at 591, while Chattanooga – the No. 49 team in the nation – leads the event with a 584.
• On the player leaderboard, Murray State’s Jay Nimmo holds the top spot at 142.

Inside the Round

• Valpo owns the best par-5 scoring average in the field at 4.63 (-11).
• The Beacons have produced 23 birdies, second only to Chattanooga’s 27.
• Booth is tied for the second-best par-5 scoring average in the field at 4.33 (-4).
• VanArragon has produced a team-high seven birdies with Booth chipping in six.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“The Pfau Course is the toughest course that we will play all year. The golf course demands good shots all of the time and it never lets up. It’s a challenge to find birdies, and we certainly had our hands full with the golf course today. The course played almost 7,300 yards and for a Par 71, that’s a lot of golf course. Combined with temps below 40 degrees until late morning, and similar conditions tomorrow, this has been a really good test for us and the guys have been ready for it.”

“One theme that has played itself out for us this spring is starting our tournaments strong. We were leading after the first nine holes today and we finished the first round tied for second place.  We knew that one of the toughest stretches of the golf course would be Holes 2-6, and that's where we finished both of today’s rounds. We played those five holes at eight over in the first round and +11 in the second round, so we gave a lot back at the end of both rounds. We had 14 birdies in the first round and we only had nine birdies in the second round, so it was a struggle to get some shots back on the course.”

“I was very pleased with how the team grinded out some quality pars on the golf course all day. They kept playing hard and they stayed focused on each shot/task at hand. The team effort was excellent today, and hopefully we can get some more birdies tomorrow and finish the tournament strong.”

Up Next

Valpo will continue the Hoosier Collegiate on Sunday with the third and final round. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.