The Valparaiso University men’s golf team closed out a strong showing at the Hoosier Collegiate on Sunday, finishing the tournament in third of 14. Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) and Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) both achieved top-10 finishes in the event, which took place at the par-71, 7265-yard Pfau Course in Bloomington.

How It Happened

• Kostouros posted the team’s best score of the day on Sunday with a 70 (-1), finishing the tournament with a 54-hole score of 221 (+8). He moved up 16 places on the player leaderboard to finish tied for 10^th in a 78-player field.
• VanArragon finalized a top-10 finish of his own with a 73 in Sunday’s round, finishing the event at 219 (+6) to place in seventh.
• The team’s third-best score of the day came from Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) with a 74. That helped him grab a spot in the top 15 at t-14.
• As a team, Valpo had its best round of the tournament with a 293 to finish with a 54-hole score of 889. Valpo climbed over Missouri Valley Conference foe Illinois State on the team leaderboard as the Redbirds finished fourth. Valpo topped four Valley teams in the event and finished behind only No. 49 Chattanooga and the host Hoosiers.
• Murray State’s Jay Nimmo took medalist honors at 211 (-2).

Inside the Round

• Valpo led the tournament field in par-5 scoring average at 4.62 (-17).
• The Beacons birdied 34 holes during the tournament, the second most in the field.
• VanArragon led Valpo with nine birdies.
• VanArragon boasted his 11^th top-10 finish in his last 12 events, his eighth top-10 finish in nine tournaments this season and his 27^th career top-10 performance.
• Kostouros had his third top-10 finish of the campaign.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“I'm really proud of the team and their efforts in playing the final round on a very tough golf course. We talked about finishing the tournament strong, moving up another place or two in the standings, having a good start to the round and finishing the back nine strong. The guys accomplished all of those goals, and I’m really pleased with their determination and execution on the golf course. It’s always important to us to finish our tournaments very strong, and this was exactly what we needed in a competitive field and on a tremendous golf course.”

“Three out of the five guys birdied the first hole, so that got us off and running. The 2-6 hole stretch is the most difficult on the course, and we played those five holes at 10 over – not where we wanted to be. The guys bounced right back, playing the 235-yard Par 3 at even par and finishing the last three holes of the front nine at two under. We started the three holes on the back nine with eight bogeys, but we picked up three more birdies on the Par-5 13th hole. The last five holes of the back nine are challenging and we finished very strong, playing those at two over.  While we played the Par-3s well today at four over, we still need to improve our scoring on those holes throughout the tournament. We led the field in Par-5 scoring and the team did a terrific job taking advantage of those scoring opportunities.”

“Yianni had an excellent round for us, playing very steady and really striking the ball well. His chipping around the greens was excellent today, saving some good pars and getting up-and-down around the Par 5s. After starting the round with two bogeys, he played bogey-free the last 16 holes, including three birdies. The rest of the team had two birdies each on the round, so that was a balanced effort for us. The guys completely eliminated the potential double bogeys on the round, and that always helps our scoring. We have some areas that we will practice and focus on this week and we will look forward to getting prepared for our tournament next weekend.”

Up Next

Valpo will play its final tournament prior to the MVC Championship this coming weekend at the Rutherford Intercollegiate, which starts on Saturday at Penn State GC in State College, Pa. A link to live scoring will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.