A pair of Valparaiso University men’s golfers are among the top three on the player leaderboard and a trio are in position for top-10 finishes at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which held its second of three rounds on Monday at the par-72, 7060-yard Club at Porto Cima in Sunrise Beach, Mo. Stalwarts Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) and Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) are among the tournament leaders, but freshman Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) has been a surprise story of the tournament as he currently sits in second.

How It Happened

• Melliere and VanArragon account for two of the top three spots in a 50-player field. Melliere golfed a 68 (-4) on Monday to vault seven spots into second place behind only Southern Illinois’ Edouard Cereto, who sits atop the leaderboard in the race for medalist honors. Melliere is at 140 (-4) for the tournament after a glowing round that featured five birdies and just one bogey on Monday.
• VanArragon is a single stroke behind his freshman teammate at 141 (-3) after a 70 (-2) on Monday. He had five birdies to offset three bogeys in Monday’s round.
• Delisanti, the two-time defending MVC medalist, is tied for ninth after stroking a 74 (+2) on Monday. He birdied three holes but also had three bogeys and a double bogey.
• Valpo’s top three scores were 74 or better, but the fourth counting score was an 80. The team finished the day with an 18-hole score of 292 (+4) and a 36-hole score of 583 (+7), in third of 10 teams. Valpo is just four strokes behind Missouri State, but Southern Illinois has opened up a 14-stroke lead for the conference title and an automatic NCAA Regional berth with 18 holes remaining.

Inside the Rounds

• Valpo has 29 birdies for the tournament, the fourth most in the field.
• Par-5 scoring has been a weakness so far in the tournament, as Valpo is last in the field at 5.23 on those holes.
• Melliere has a team-best nine birdies followed by VanArragon with eight.
• Melliere’s 68 represented the best round of his young collegiate career.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“As a body of work, the second round today was very similar to yesterday’s round. Our birdie production was almost identical and while we didn’t have as many double bogeys, we had more bogeys today. Our Par-3 scoring wasn’t as good as yesterday, but our Par-5 scoring improved slightly. We just couldn’t get any momentum going again today, having our guys string some birdies together or get them in bunches as a team. We improved our tee shots today, but we couldn’t convert that to more greens in regulation.”

“Adam really played solid for us today. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation. His ball-striking has been excellent both days and he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He had 28 putts, making five birdies and only one bogey on his card. Tomorrow we’re going to need to have a solid start, hit a lot of fairways in regulation, take advantage of the Par 5s, avoid the big score holes and putt well. We’ve had rounds this year where we were firing on all cylinders and tomorrow is going to need to be one of those days.”

Up Next

The third and final round will take place on Tuesday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.