With 18 holes remaining entering Sunday, Valparaiso University men’s golf junior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) is in a battle for medalist honors as he is tied for the top spot in a 78-player field at Penn State’s Rutherford Intercollegiate. The tournament’s first two rounds took place through windy conditions on Saturday at the par-71, 7171-yard Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.

How It Happened

• Delisanti followed a 72 (+1) in Round 1 with a 68 (-3) in Round 2 to finish the day at 140 (-2). He is tied with Delaware’s Arsit Areephun for the top spot on the player leaderboard.
• Fifth-year senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) is also well-positioned for a top-10 finish as he sits at 144 (+2) through two rounds, tied for seventh. He carded a 74 (+3) in Round 1 and improved to 70 (-1) in Round 2.
• At the No. 3 spot in the lineup, Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) produced an even-par second round after going five over in the opening round. His 36-hole score of 147 (+5) is tied for 15^th on the player leaderboard. He climbed 13 spots during the second round.
• The Beacons had to count an 81 in Round 1, but the play of the back of the lineup improved drastically in the second round when the final counting score was a 74 (+3) from Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel).
• Valpo climbed four spots on the team leaderboard during the second round, using a 20-stroke improvement with a 283 (-1) to finish the day in third of 14 at 586 (+18). Host Penn State (580) and UConn (582) are the only teams in front of the Beacons.

Inside the Rounds

• Delisanti had four birdies against just one bogey in his glowing second round. He finished the day among the tournament leaders in birdie production with eight.
• Valpo’s 25 birdies rank third in the field. Booth has seven, tied for fourth among all competitors.
• Delisanti and VanArragon are both averaging 4.09 on par 4s holes, tied for third in the field.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“These two rounds were a gritty performance for us, especially the second round. The conditions were very challenging for the entire field. We started the day playing in 42-degree temps with sustained winds at 15-20 mph. While the temps improved to the low 50s, we had wind gusts as high as 35-40 mph. It’s really challenging to gauge the wind and how the ball is going to react in the wind, but the guys kept their poise and just kept grinding all day. We kept improving our scoring every nine holes and the guys played better as the day got longer. They never gave up and they managed the course even better as the rounds continued.”

“All five of our guys improved their scores from the first to the second round. You want to see that determination and productivity, especially on these 36-hole days. We played the last 10 holes at six under for our four scores that counted. The team played our final 45 holes at one under, and that really impressed me for such a long day. Anthony was masterful for us today. He played his last 11 holes at three under, narrowly missing a number of other birdies during that stretch. We are playing in the final group tomorrow, so we’re excited to have the opportunity to finish the tourney strong.”

Up Next

The Beacons will golf the third and final round of the event on Sunday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.